A Runner's Journey

While the phrase mens sana in corpore sano does not appear in A Runner's Journey, the life of Bruce Kidd offers a compelling illustration of a sound mind in a sound body. Kidd's autobiography traces his life through three phases: (1) The Education of an Athlete, (2) The Education of an Activist, and (3) My Struggle for Canadian Sport. In every phase, Kidd combines physical and mental striving toward the progressive goal of social justice for all.Part 1 recounts roughly the first twenty years of Kidd's life, from his childhood through his early running successes, culminating in participation in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. After discovering his fleetness of foot in school, Kidd took to running with determination and passion, winning championships and setting new records at many races. Named Canada's best athlete of the year and male athlete of the year in 1961, Kidd seemed to exemplify all that was good and wholesome. In response, the Canadian press and public conferred national representational status upon Kidd, his successes cast as the successes of Canada. Kidd took on the mantle with his first public speech in 1962, making the case for governmental investment in Canadian sports to become competitive with the rest of the world. The speech led to the allocation of five million dollars to improve physical fitness in Canada. Kidd had truly entered a “lifetime of expectations and opportunities” (63). His experience at the Olympic Games in Tokyo provided an education that created the foundational beliefs for the next phase of Kidd's life. Kidd realized the unifying power of sport: “That everyone has gone through the same mill of competition provides a common bond which overcomes all differences—here the misunderstandings of race, colour, and creed are truly banished” (100).Part 2 relates Kidd's education as an activist. In 1967, Kidd moved to Illinois to attend the University of Chicago. Although only in the United States for a year, he immersed himself in the progressive political environment of the time, becoming a part of the Reverend Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket, which focused on bettering economic conditions for minorities in the city as its mission. Kidd also advocated for sociologist Harry Edwards's Olympic Project for Human Rights, which involved athletes working to address institutional racism in the United States. Returning to Toronto in 1968, Kidd took a job as executive assistant to the secretary of the Ontario Treasury Board, where he gained a valuable education in financial budgeting. Kidd then moved on to seek nomination for the New Democratic Party, with election to the provincial executive in 1970. At the same time, Kidd had started teaching at the University of Toronto and York University. His course in sport and society used books by jockrakers (authors critical of established sports), whose ranks Kidd joined with The Death of Hockey (1972), his forceful critique of the National Hockey League's influence in Canada. In 1971, the provincial election was called, and Kidd lost to the Conservative candidate. From this defeat, Kidd says he “slowly learned that the singlemindedness of purpose required on the track does not always translate into successful politics” (180). This lesson would serve him well in the next phase of his life as he moved to advocate for social justice goals within Canadian sport.In part 3, Kidd consolidates the athletic, the intellectual, and the political, hitting his stride as an activist working toward social justice in sport. Kidd took a tenure-track job at the University of Toronto's School of Physical and Health Education in 1973 and plunged into university politics, from which he gained another valuable lesson: “Whereas previously, I prided myself on sharpening the edges, I gradually learned to soften them in the interests of bringing people together” (202). Since that time, Kidd has been largely successful in his maneuvering through the politically charged terrain of his many and varied projects. Kidd describes his work supporting the Canadian Olympic Games of Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver-Whistler; advocacy of the South African boycott in response to apartheid; and work for the inclusion under fair conditions of women in sport. Throughout, Kidd maintains his focus on sports in Canada. In his view, “Sports provide some of the greatest joys of contemporary life. It's important that we bring them to everyone” (346). From his doctoral project, which brought attention to previously neglected stories of the sports activity of marginalized populations, to his contemporary work for human rights and the bridging of Canada's “say-do” gap (i.e., failure to enforce existing policies), Kidd has worked tirelessly toward this goal.A Runner's Journey offers a fascinating first-hand account of many of the most significant political developments in sport over the past half-century. It will be of great use to those interested in how abstract ideals, through determined effort and activism, can be translated into concrete practice. As well, it provides an engaging story of Kidd's education as he develops from young athlete to seasoned and successful statesman.

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