Best of SI: Jim Fixx's legacy resonates amid pandemic

SI's Daily Cover looks at the story of Jim Fixx, the co-founder of Nike who helped kickstart the fitness revolution in America by proving the mental and physical health benefits of running.

It was to supposed to be out and back. Ten miles or so. Or at least that’s how far Jim Fixx usually ran. On this particular afternoon, July 20, 1984, he was especially eager to get moving. A thin, angularly handsome man of 52, he’d been driving for six hours, fighting traffic on his way north. Around 3:30 p.m., he’d checked into the Village Motel in Hardwick, Vt., and, as he had most every day for the previous two decades, slipped on shorts and running shoes—in this case, white Nikes with blue laces.

Once upon a time, like most of the country in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Fixx had considered running a grim pursuit, endured only in gym class or by athletes and soldiers. Until, that is, one afternoon in 1967, when, at the age of 35, 50 pounds overweight and frustrated by life as a deskbound editor, he had decided to go for a jog. This simple act triggered an unlikely series of events that led to Fixx’s becoming not only the sport’s most influential proponent, but also a millionaire author who received White House invitations and appeared in Super Bowl ads.

On this day, he ran alone, veering onto the shoulder of Route 15 and heading through leafy terrain. As he went, he let his mind wander. He had much to think about. If anything felt amiss, he never let on. Consider the humble jogger: at times celebrated, at times maligned but, for the most part, taken for granted.

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