Runner's World May 2013

LOCATION Pacifica, California PHOTOGRAPH by Ryan Heffernan RUNNER Katie Burroughs THE EXPERIENCE Rugged—and often unmarked—trails meander up steep coastal cliffs at Mori Point near the San Francisco Bay, where adventurous runners are rewarded with stunning views and gentle sea breezes. “I learned to cherish nature here,” Burroughs says. “It has the sun, the ocean, and wild poppies that bloom in the spring.” FOR DIRECTIONS, RESOURCE INFORMATION, AND DOWNLOADABLE WALLPAPER IMAGES, VISIT RUNNERSWORLD.COM/RAVERUN.…

A Sheehan Revival ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS I did when I started this job in 2003 was put a framed photo of Dr. George Sheehan on the wall of my office. George, a cardiologist who wrote a column for Runner’s World for 25 years starting in 1970, was the magazine’s most popular and beloved writer before his death from prostate cancer in 1993. He wrote about running not only as a sport but as a method for living a fuller life. He helped launch the first running boom, and one of his eight books, Running & Being, spent months on The New York Times Best Sellers list in 1978. Many of you may still consider him your favorite writer, although that word doesn’t fully capture what he was. I…

DANGER QUEST Christopher Solomon’s account of Michael LeMaitre’s disappearance on Mount Marathon (“The Last Man Up,” March) elevated your magazine to another level. I’ve embraced both the beauty and brutality of Seward, Alaska, so I found myself nodding along to Solomon’s dead-on descriptions. I recalled a photo taken during my own scramble up Mount Marathon in 2006. Eerily, the photo shows me in nearly the same location and with the same part-exhausted, part-exultant smile as LeMaitre in that fateful final photo. My heart goes out to his family. I hope that they find the closure they need to be able to move forward in their lives. —Mike SohaSkey, Berkeley, California This article was a gripping, stimulating read. But what bothered me was the biased theme that pushing yourself to the…

BEANTOWN COVERAGE Interested in this year’s Boston Marathon? You should be. The men’s U.S. Olympic Marathon team (and our two cover models) will be part of the star-studded field that will race the storied course on April 15. Follow all the action at runners world.com/boston. We’ll live-blog the race there and on Twitter at @runnersworld. TWO OF A KIND Our interview with Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan tests the training partners to see how well they know each other. Watch it at runnersworld.com/twoofakind. FUEL SCHOOL IS IN SESSION Our newest column offers a crash course in nutrition from sports dietitian Pamela Nisevich Bede at runnersworld.com/fuel-school. ONLINE POLL How old were you when you first started running for exercise or sport?…

THOUSANDS of marathoners devote their running lives to qualifying for what’s often called the most prestigious road race on Earth: the Boston Marathon. It’s up to race staffers and volunteers to make the race live up to participants’ very high expectations. While race director Dave McGillivray and his team shoulder most of that responsibility, there is a supporting cast of characters who also work behind the scenes to make the marathon the special event that it is. 1. THE ARTIST Jack LeDuc grew up in Hopkinton in the 1950s, just a stone’s throw from the marathon’s starting line—then just a simple white strip of paint. In 1982, LeDuc got race organizers’ permission to “gussy it up.” Each year since then, he’s painted the starting point with the race’s logo and…

RUNNING DOES A BODY GOOD Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition cover Kate Upton (left and center) runs sprints to prep for the shoot. Hurdler Michelle Jenneke (right), whose bouncy warmup made her a YouTube sensation, makes it into the issue. RACE WINNER Wesley Korir, the 2012 Boston Marathon champ, is elected to Kenya’s Parliament. Korir, who plans to defend his title at the 2013 marathon, ran as an independent. POSTER BOY Track star Nick Symmonds appears in a NOH8 ad: “To deny someone the rights afforded to others based on gender or sexual orientation defies logic,” he says. SIZEABLE DONATION National Geographic Kids gathers 16,407 running shoes for recycling, setting a new Guinness World Record. Taylor Swift, Danica Patrick, and Eli Manning donate their own pairs.…