ABSTRACT
Bodies have always occupied an ambiguous position in the social sciences, but this applies particularly to social gerontology. The status of the body, as has already been stated, has not been explicitly or systematically explored in social gerontology, although that is changing. The denial of alternative ways of imagining older bodies constitutes the main mechanism by which they are controlled and regulated. Gender is also an obvious organizing principle. The advantage of focusing on serious runners is that they subject their bodies to forms and levels of exertion which would not be possible without an intimate knowledge of their bodies. Being a runner is timebound in a multiplicity of ways. Masters athletes are either recent entrants into their sport or continue what is a lifelong engagement. People who retire from running because of illness or injury often continue to be involved in other ways, usually as coaches and in sport administration.
