Club Forms For Runners

If you

* are a freshman woman, dismayed about the spare flesh the chunky Union granola has added to your frame.

* are an ex-high school runner, unable to compete on Harvard's level, but still enchanted with the sport, or

* are a neophyte jogger, desirous of meeting some of the sleek, colorful bodies that bob alongslide the Charles every day, the University's newest sports organization could be just what you need

Organized by two former high school runners--juniors Tom Meyer and Emily Wollman--the proposed Harvard Running Club is trying to recruit undergraduates who want new partners to run with and a supportive, non-competitive training situation, as well as those who are fledgling New Balance or Adidas shoe owners

"We have a lot of ideas for the club." Wollman told the knot of interested students at last night's introductory meeting. They include a monthly newsletter of local races, a directory of club members and the time they run during the days, as well as a possible Harvard-sponsored race open to the public.

Rodney Pearson, a Winthrop House economics tutor and marathoner of local notoriety, is the club's faculty sponsor. He feels that, as with the 100-member Harvard Business School Running Club, one of the organization's best services will be helping Harvard runners prepare for the Boston marathon, and to supply them with the necessary enthusiasm for long, cold training runs.

The club also plans to invite some of the area's plethora of well known runners and exercise physiologists to address members on medical aspects of running and related topics.

Pearson, although skeptical about one proposal to get Bill Rodgers--a marathoner of some note--to come speak at Harvard because of his astronomical fees, nevertheless joked. "I did give him a glass of water before the Boston Marathon so he owes me something."