Humans

Humans are born to run. It's just that we use it in more ways than our early ancestors. In the early days, humans ran to hunt down their prey, most of which are faster than they are. Therefore, theyhad to find the means to catch up with them. But later in history, humans found other uses for the faculty of running and that includes the running competitions we have today. How did thesecompetitions come to be? This section will deal with that and a lot more.

Track Running
Modern organized track running has only been around for less than 200 years but it traces its roots to the old GreekOlympics. The first Greek Olympics was held in 776 BC where the only event held was a foot race. There were other games organized after that including the Roman Games in the Roman Era. However, gamesat the scale of the Greek Olympics and Roman Games were no longer held after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was only in the 19th century when the track running events started to become reallyorganized. It was especially apparent during the first modern Olympics in 1896.

Cross Country Running
Cross country running, meanwhile, traces its roots in the early 19th century England. Originallyknown as “paper chase”, this sport used to be a game played by two groups of runners in a randomly chosen trail. The first group drops paper markers across the course while the other group chases thefirst one by following the paper trail they left behind.

In 1878, the game was introduced to the United States by William C. Vosburg. Although it is initially intended to be a training exercise fortrack and field events, cross country running eventually became recognized as a sport in its own right. Today, it is a popular sport not only among men, but also among women.

Fell Running
Just likecross country running, fell running originated from England, though it was also played in Scotland and Wales. In Scotland, they were usually held during fairs or highland games. They were held...