Living on Lifesavers

For most of the 20th Century the state-controlled media of the totalitarian regimes of Lenin, Stalin, Brezhnev and Khrushchev had consistently and systematically indoctrinated the Russian populace to assess all Americans as selfish, motivated only by wealth, sex-obsessed barbarians. In turn, politically, Americans often viewed the Soviet Union as the “evil empire.” This assessment generally did not extend to the Russian people. This attitude may have had its roots in our country’s historical battles to establish the principle of equality for all people. “The Russians are probably no different than we are,” most reasoned. During the cold war years (1969 – 91), many American individuals, small groups and somewhat larger organizations traveled to Russia in hopes of breaking down the communication barriers between the peoples of both countries. In doing so they circumvented the ossified bureaucracies of both countries in the spirit of, “If the governments can't do it, perhaps we can.” The book chronicles the explosive growth of a philanthropy-focused running club and its unintended participation in this process. World Runners began running the Moscow Marathon annually as a team in 1983. They had one and only one simple mission: to bruit The Hunger Project's message that “the end of world hunger is an idea whose time has come” throughout the streets and running pathways of the world. They had no political agenda. They had no citizen diplomacy goals. They wished only to spread their message. In this venue, throughout Moscow and the most distant republics or Russia. Because they had no diplomatic intent, paradoxically, they may have been the most effective of all the groups that went to Russia at precisely that: the militarily-disciplined, obsessively suspicious Soviet press gave them a free pass. In a sense, they operated in a modern day Trojan-horse likeness. Though they started small in 1983, by 1989 they had over 600 T-shirt wearing members running the Moscow Marathons and traveling throughout the far republics of the Soviet Union. The scope, size and media coverage they received literally dwarfed other participants in the diplomacy field. Long Before Glasnost presents the World Runner participation through distinct experiences of separate WR club members in their travels throughout Russia and their running of the marathons. In particular, their interaction with the Russian populace on a one-on-one basis. In this context, it became impossible to juxtaposition that supposed image of a selfish barbarian on the American runners. Each member has a different experience at the same time and place. Some of the members have world-class running abilities, but most run only for the purpose. Separate chapters treat separate members, though all interact in the evolution of events. Two world-televised events occurred simultaneously that day in Lenin Stadium and the streets of Moscow in 1989. In one event, 97 of the premier athletes of the world competed for Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. The other event witnessed the love affair the Russian cameramen had with the T-shirt-identified World Runners team, filming them stopping on the side of streets to kiss old (and, oh yes, young) ladies behind the roped off barricades; taking pictures of the spectators; shaking the hands of smiling faces; giving “thumbs up” gestures to the crowd; walking, carrying one of the exhausted runners on his shoulders; pointing to an “End World Hunger” T-shirt printed in Russian and English. “When the last of the World Runners crossed the finish line, he seemed to receive as much applause as the first competitive runner,” one World Runner remarked.