Setting the Pace: Ann Arbor's Running History

Wed, 10/23/2024 - 8:54am

"Running sounds like a tedious activity that is common in any place, but the running scene in Ann Arbor has been special for a long time. Jesse Owens set four world records in one day at the University of Michigan’s Ferry Field, the year before his famed appearance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Ann Arbor Track Club started 50+ years ago as an elite club that quickly morphed into a popular community club. That club then started the Dexter to Ann Arbor race in 1974, on the cusp of the national craze for “jogging.” Two decades before the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984, before UM’s first varsity women’s track and field team in 1978, and even before Title IX was signed into law in 1972 granting equality for female athletes, Ann Arbor’s Michigammes defied gender expectations and ran, competing nationally and even globally in the Olympics.

In part because of this history, Ann Arbor has produced a vibrant running community that surprises and delights newcomers who share an interest in running. It offers 12+ clubs they can join, each catering to a specific distance, age and vibe. Despite residing in pancake flat and car-obsessed Southeast Michigan, Ann Arbor features hills, beautiful views of the Huron River and accessible paths, roads and trails. With the affluence of the University, it regularly produces world elite track and field athletes, runners whom any Ann Arborite can share the track or road with.

As such a newcomer myself in 2007, I eventually found my running club of choice. I have traversed trails, distant dirt roads, and every neighborhood park that offers a drinking fountain. I have participated in Dexter to Ann Arbor, as well as numerous other locally organized races and themed runs. Through running in Ann Arbor, I met my husband, improved my racing times and have made a diverse community of supportive friends. And over the past 17 years, I have heard over and over again from visitors and transplants, “We don’t have anything like this where I came from.”

The topic of “running” was not on Ann Arbor District Library’s list of highlights for the Bicentennial project, Ann Arbor 200, but I pitched the idea to them because I thought the running community in Ann Arbor was exceptional. I am glad that through this documentary process, not only have I found history that backs up this sentiment, but have also found that many agree." - Filmmaker Shannon Kohlitz