| Jogging, as an act of running over a distance at a | | | | spread all over Europe and since there were as yet |
| measured pace, has been around since the beginning | | | | no specialized training programs or equipment athletes |
| of man. The earliest cave dwellers who know it was | | | | had only the use of weights to build up their muscles |
| not safe to be out in the wild after dark, knew from | | | | and jogging over long distances to build up their |
| the position of the setting sun, when it was time for | | | | stamina. Even the aristocracy took it up. Noblemen of |
| them to start moving back to safety at a brisk pace. | | | | that time placed a great deal of importance on their |
| The hunter, who often had to keep up with this prey | | | | skill as swordsmen, both as a measure of social |
| over long distances before having a chance to strike, | | | | standing and well as at means of self defense in a |
| also learned the art of moving at a pace faster than | | | | lawless time when a solitary rich man was thought of |
| walking over a long distance. These were the first | | | | a easy picking for a gang of thugs. Using a sword, |
| joggers. | | | | either for the pleasure of fencing or as a means of |
| When the first human settlements sprang up in pre | | | | self defense, requires far more stamina that most |
| historic Africa and communities began to interact with | | | | people understand. The only way for this endurance to |
| each other, the vast distances to be covered from | | | | be developed was by jogging. |
| one place to another made travelling at a walking pace | | | | The first mention of jogging in print is a reference to it |
| enviable and so people jogged the distances. Perhaps | | | | in Shakespeare's 1593 play, "The Taming of the |
| that accounts for the success African nations have | | | | Shrew." By the 17th century it had become a common |
| historically had in middle and long distance running. | | | | form of exercise all over England since it involved no |
| But all this was just a way of covering distances in a | | | | expensive equipment or special locations. |
| shot time. Jogging as a form of exercise and physical | | | | Jogging was first used in America in the 19th century |
| training came into existence with the early Romans | | | | as part of the training of boxers and football and |
| and Greeks who used slow distance running as a | | | | baseball players. It was called roadwork then and |
| form of training their armies. Since both cultures also | | | | remained a part of formal sports training until the 1960s |
| encouraged sports, athletes discovered running as a | | | | when Bill Bowerman, the University of Oregon's track |
| way of keeping fit and increasing endurance. | | | | coach saw it being used as a form of personal |
| If we stretch the term jogging to its limits, the first | | | | exercise and relaxation in New Zealand and brought |
| formal form of jogging was perhaps the marathons of | | | | the concept home with him. He popularized the idea |
| the ancient Olympics. | | | | and over the next few decades it grew into what is |
| Jogging, in its modern form dates from Medieval | | | | today one of the most popular forms of exercise in |
| Europe. It was at this time that that individual physical | | | | the country. |
| fitness became important. Track and field sports had | | | | |
