What has 52 bones, 66 joints, 40 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments? If you answered “feet” and are a runner, you already know how important it is to take care of your feet while engaging in this sport. Getting involved with the Bucks County Roadrunners is one way to enjoy the thrill of running without getting hurt in the process.
Yardley resident Fred Gropper remembers seeing his father Len run in the Long Island Earth Day Marathon. The time was 1977, the weather—East Coast brutal. “I watched men running in the snow all the while the snow was coming down hard,” Fred said. “My dad actually finished the marathon, and all I could think of was that these participants were crazy!”
Two years later, though, in 1979, Fred joined the “crazy” ones. He ran in his first major race, the Marine Corps Marathon, and he literally has not stopped running since.
He serves as President of the Bucks County Roadrunners, and no, there is not a Wile E. Coyote in their organization of over 400 men and women. “We are a group of people who find the benefits of running to be physical, mental and social,” Fred explained. “It's one activity in which the entire family can participate—or a single person can join and not feel alone.”
To finish reading about the Bucks County Roadrunners, go to page 100 in the Winter 2012/13 issue of bucks County Magazine.