JULIA EMMONS is the executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, the second largest running club in the United States. A veteran of 20 marathons, Julia is known to some of her friends as “Oprah,” not because the talk show queen ran a marathon, but because Julia is in the habit of pushing her favorite books to her friends, even if she has to buy copies for them. The current pick from the Oprah … oops … Julia Book Club is Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres. Check it out.

KEITH R. WILLIAMS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of California at Davis. He is a biomechanist whose primary research emphasis has been distance running—particularly how running mechanics interact with body structure to influence physiological energy costs and injury. Keith has analyzed the biomechanics of many elite-level runners in projects with the U.S. Olympic Training Center and USA Track & Field, and has been a consultant in the athletic footwear industry for the last 20 years. He is active in national and international organizations in biomechanics and sports medicine. Keith is drawn back to reality from a researcher’s preoccupation with scientific detail by his wife Sue, the cross-country coach at UC/Davis.

WILLIAM E. CHILDS, a veteran of 40 marathons between the ages of 54 and 71, is a retired industrial research and development chemist from Wellington, New Zealand, and a silver medalist for the New Zealand team in the 1981 World Veterans Championships. After completing his first marathon in January 1979, Bill made a conscious decision to maintain