As 401(k)s take a beating, runners pound the pavement

Sooner or later, it happens to every baby boomer.

A glance in the mirror results in a gasp. Not only does the creature staring back bear an uncanny resemblance to Mom or Dad, but in that same instant, the boomer realizes it's too late.

Too late to be a jockey. A pro golfer. An Olympian.

Too late to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, supermodel, stunt man, flight attendant or Hooters waitress.

Shoot, even the chance of writing the great American novel - something you can do sitting down - recedes with each passing year.

The boomer is left with two choices: Find another goal - something challenging but more attainable - or give up and head over to House of Prunes for the early-bird special.

A friend recently said that when you reach a certain age - mine - you have just one thing going for you: endurance.

"Everything else may be gone, but you live this long, you've learned how to put one foot in front of the other," he told me.

Hmmmm. Put one foot in front of the other? That I can do. Question is, how quickly and for how long?

We'll find out on Sept. 6, when I line up with about 19,999 others to run the Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.

I signed up last week. Honestly. What was I thinking?

First of all, I'm not a runner. Not any more, anyway. And even when I was lacing up my Nikes every day, I never ran more than six miles at a time.

I was shamed into this venture. My younger, fitter sister-in-law decided to come up from North Carolina for the race. She figured we could run together. "We can do it!" she enthused.

We?

I finally agreed to join her at the start. As long as she promised to have a cold drink ready for me at the finish.

What I didn't know when I was filling out the form and estimating my time (three hours - I've slowed down) is that I'm part of a trend.

According to Ryan Lamppa of Running USA, there has been a surge in the number of people - older people, too - taking part in organized races this year. So far, more than 30 events across the country have either sold out or had a record number of participants. In the midst of a recession.

"Running is recession resistant," he explained Monday. "You buy a pair of shoes for $40 to $100 and go running. You don't need a bunch of bells and whistles."

People who have had to give up their pricey gym memberships are pounding the pavement now, he said. So are those who've lost their jobs.

"There's so much gloom and doom that people are turning to running. It's a way to get away from the world."

That may be true. But race fees are steep. The Virginia Beach entry set me back $90, and that charge jumped to $105 on June 1.

Lamppa noted that half marathons have exploded in the past 15 years. And the average age of the runners has climbed. Along with their finish times.

What does this all mean?

"Like you, they're not 26 anymore," he said diplomatically, adding that running "makes you feel like a kid."

Right. A kid with aching hamstrings.

No doubt the recession has something to do with the sudden popularity of road racing. I also blame the looking-glass effect. Baby boomers have glanced in the mirror.

What they saw sent them, well, running.

Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net

Editor's note: Beginning June 8, Kerry Dougherty's column will be available only in The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Read more here.