What in the world is a "running dinosaur"?  Whatever it is, over the weekend, I felt like one.

In pursuit of my return to serious running, I discovered that the sport has evolved.  The evolution has been considerable since my last race, the 1982 Revco Cleveland Marathon.  You need to be pretty old to remember Revco, the drugstore chain.  Going back to my first marathon, the Revco in 1978, it has evolved even more.

In that marathon of 1978, there were no pace markers or signs to start at.  Not knowing anything about marathon starts, I got to the race early and intuitively went to the front.  I was in the second row, right behind the world-class guys.  The world-class guys had leg muscles like guitar strings and not an ounce of body fat.

Back then, the race started at Cleveland State near East 21th Street and traveled west on Superior Avenue, then over the Detroit-Superior bridge, eventually turning around out at Columbia Road, then finishing back at Cleveland State.  Starting out so far forward forced me to run with the "big boys" for the first mile, to avoid becoming a trampled idiot.  My first mile in a 26-mile race was around 5 minutes or the pace the world-class guys do for the entire race.

Nice way to hold back.  Only 25 more miles to go Jim, you idiot.

As the race progressed, I settled into a slower pace, hit the wall at 20 miles, then died.  Literally died.  I finished in probably around 6 hours.

The race in 1982 was a little better.  I averaged about 7 minutes a mile for 20 miles, then hit the wall, crawling to the finish in something under 4 hours.  I do remember sprinting over the finish line to beat a couple of close competitors.  The cheers from the crowd were awesome.

Fast forward to the 21st century.  Nowadays, they use electronic chips and mats to record times in most races.  Starting runners are spread out and modern technology does the rest.

Other "dinosaur moments" occurred at Second Sole later on Saturday.  I wanted a second pair of shoes since my first pair hardly has a chance to air-out from the previous day's run.  After asking the associate about a second pair similar to the ones I already have, he looked at the old ones and acted like I should throw them away.  They look brand new, but since they have been used since January, they were unusable, in his opinion.  What?

Also, while at Second Sole, I noticed something they sell called "Energy Gel".  What is that?  I have only known two things to run with besides blisters and cramps - Gatorade and water.  I never did find out what energy gel is or what it does.

Finally, in my previous running lifetime, I remember there being only two races: 10K's and marathons.  Now there are all kinds of crazy events.  I saw the posters on the wall at Second Sole.  They even had a lot of events called "Fun Runs".  What are those?  My last two races almost killed me.

Yes, I am a running dinosaur.  Eventually, I will become petroleum as all dinosaurs do.