AN IMPORTANT LESSON

It was an early September day, cool and bright and just right for running, and I was in the first few miles of a 10 1/2 mile race over a course through steep, exhausting hills. Still, I felt rested and springy; despite the hills it was going to be a fine run.

Just ahead of me was Peggy Mimno, a teacher from Mount Kisco, New York. She too was running easily, moving along efficiently at my speed. The pace felt comfortable, so I decided to stay where I was; why bother concentrating on pace when she was such a nice pacesetter for me? I would overtake her later on when she tired.

So I was running closely behind her. The course headed north for five miles, wandered west for a hilly mile, then turned south again along a winding road. The race was getting tougher. We had four miles left and already it was beginning to be real work. I was breathing hard, and my legs were beginning to stiffen.

Peggy overtook a young male runner. Apparently she knew him, for they exchanged a few cheerful words as she passed him. Their exchange worried me. You don't chat during a race unless you are feeling good, and Peggy plainly was. There was still a noticeable bounce in her stride, but whatever springiness I had once possessed had long since left me.

Still, I was close enough to overtake her if she tired, so I didn't give up hope completely. We were approaching a long, punishing hill now and it would be the test. We were a mile from the finish line, so whatever happened on the hill would almost certainly determine who crossed it first.

As I moved up the hill, working hard, my attention wandered for a few minutes. When I looked up Peggy was moving away—first five yards, then ten, then more. Finally it was clear that there was no hope of catching her. She beat me decisively.

There is an important lesson in that race. Much of what you read about running makes a sharp distinction between the sexes. Women are assumed to be weaker, slower and not nearly as skilled athletically. Yet as Peggy Mimno so clearly demonstrated, the similarities between male and female runners are more important than the differences.