Mildred Cooper

I want to dedicate this review and this book to all my 30-something exercise buddies at the YMCA who run as a pack, training for the "relay marathon" (in which a group of 6 runs 26 miles--but if you ask them, they tell you they're "training for the marathon"). These young women think they invented exercise. No, you didn't. We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper and his books about aerobics, particularly this one, got me up off the couch and onto the show more roads when I was in my early 20s in 1976. Women runners of that era owe him a great debt. This book would look hilariously out of date to 20-somethings today, and for that they can thank the generation of runners inspired and taught by Dr. Cooper. show less