In the United States authentic run records date from the institution of the National Association of Amateur Athletes of America was formed in 1880. Track and field athletics in the United States dates from the 1860s.
With the election of Abraham Lincoln as the sixteenth President of the United States of America, a different kind of running began.....leading the country away from its most embarrassing and disturbing time.....a running for which he lost his life. The run which President Lincoln began came full circle with the culmination of President Obama in the White House in January 2009. "Happy President's Day" takes on additional meaning.
To all those who lost their life.....to all those who have suffered, whomever they may be...then, now, and in between, we offer a runner's salute and hope for a better future.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (United States Declaration of Independence)
May we all be stimulated to run with those who have and would lead us on a better course.