Reconnecting with past in Beantown

BOSTON — Nobody can dispute the physical benefits of running. But we often fail to take advantage of some psychological benefits.

Sure, most of us are quite aware of the beta endorphins that are produced in the brain when we are physically active, helping us achieve that “runner’s high” feeling. But how many times when you are down in your life or lost in the moment, have you recalled a wonderful running experience and filled your mind with it?

No runner can honestly say he or she has never experienced a phenomenal running moment: crossing the line in that first marathon, that first sub-6 minute mile, that first time you outran somebody who always had run faster than you.

So we can drift away in those experiences when we need to feel good about ourselves. It isn’t so much different than watching a favorite video over and over because you like how you feel when it is over.

This is what I call reconnecting. And when I need to reconnect, I go to Boston.

Those of us with fond memories of our childhood will find it beneficial to reconnect with our hometown. And much of the happiness of my childhood came from my running.

Initially, it was how my father and I truly connected when I was in grade school in the 1970s and he was still striving to run his four laps around the town track every Saturday morning because that’s what Ken Cooper’s best-seller “Aerobics” said he was supposed to do to live a long, healthy life.

Many other connections were made along the way. The bonding among teammates and the bonding between athlete and coach.

Which is why some 26 years after my last high school race, I still come to Boston to reconnect. Friday I sat in the office of a former teammate, Calvin Smith, and nearly three decades after high school we remain friends for life.

In high school, I thought he was a crazy sprinter, and he thought I was a crazy distance runner. That has not changed a bit. Both of us had gained extra forehead, but we never forgot our roots. Both of us rattled off names of teammates, their quirks and their stories.

As we recalled the past, we transcended to a time and place of happiness and contentment. We never would have met and bonded 26 years ago had it not been for running.

Today I will spend time reconnecting with my high school coach, Bob Torosian. When we met my senior year, he began as my coach but became much more. He was our mentor, more responsible for shaping us into the people we are today than any teacher or school administrator.

He instilled confidence in all of us, especially me because I had little confidence when we met. He believed in his athletes, he respected his athletes. He made us feel good about ourselves. He remains a most respected friend. We never would have met and bonded had it not been for running.

It doesn’t only happen in high school. At yesterday’s Breakfast of Champions at the Boston Marathon, former winners — Geoff Smith, Patti (Lyons Catalano) Dillon, Lorraine Moller and Uta Pippig — spoke of “coming home to Boston,” to the place where they can reconnect and revel once again in the memories of their great moments.