My parents started jogging in the 1970's, which meant all of us kids started jogging too. My mother made us homemade polyester running suits and we bought "track" shoes at Kmart. We would get home from school and my parents would drive us out about a mile where the roads weren't as busy and we would run, one, two, and three mile routes measured out between the phone poles with the car's odometer. We had no Garmins or hydration systems or high tech gear, we just went out and ran. We all tracked our mileage on lined paper in a spiral notebook, in pencil. Daddy paid us 25 cents per mile so on allowance day we kids would go out and run more so we could earn some spending money! This picture is from the only 5/10k that happened once a year in town.
My parents finally gave up running when they hit their 70's but still walk and stay fit, and I think all of my brothers and I except one have done a marathon and all still exercise, as do most of their kids. My daughters run for their college teams and my son is a CrossFit instructor. It really does become a way of life and I appreciate my parents instilling the value of exercise that continues on with each generation..
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