Running is the purest sport. Seriously. There are no sticks, balls, or nets. Just legs chopping air and lungs heaving in and out in a race to the finish.

That form of racing goes back thousands of years, preceding even the first Greek Olympic games.

Jump ahead to A.D. 1976. A gay running group is born, becoming the first organized GLBT sports group.

Chairman of the Marathon for the first Gay Games in San Francisco in 1986, Bud Budlong’s fascinating history of that group’s origins (on their website at http://www.sffrontrunners.org) tells of a free community college in San Francisco called Lavender University, where it all began.

Jack Baker and Gardner Pond, supporters of Lavender U., were set on teaching a furniture refinishing course. Both runners, at the last minute they changed it to a "learn to jog" class, which became the Lavender U. Joggers.

"For many, Lavender U. Joggers was the first gay group they had joined," says Budlong, recalling a time when, "there were no gay hiking, track, swimming, skiing, wrestling, bicycling, or tennis clubs, and no bands, choruses, or theater groups." The running group would inspire others to start their own sports groups.

Soon after the demise of Lavender U., the Joggers changed their name to FrontRunners, a variation on the title of Patricia Nell Warren’s bestselling novel, The Front Runner. By 1980, they held the first "Gay Run," in which 400 runners participated.

Today, Patricia Nell Warren says she’s delighted to have so many Front Runners clubs bearing her book’s name. She’s also happy "to see the growing international array of Front Runner clubs for running and walking, and their contribution to the growth of GLBT sports."

Warren will be among the many participants at the International Front Runners Games (IFRG), July 21-25 in Seattle.

The IFRG includes a track-and-field meet, a "Run With Pride" 5K Road Race, a 5K Benefit Walk, and social events and meetings for more than 25 of the nearly 100 Front Runners clubs. Front Runners members range from novices getting in shape to distance runners going for the gold at Gay Games events and national competitions.

About a dozen San Francisco Front Runners (SFFR) will compete in the IFRG. This year, San Francisco’s club celebrates its 25th annual Pride Run and its 30th anniversary as a group. In 2003, its Pride Run raised $8,700 for charity.

SFFR has about 300 club members and about 100 "recurring guests," according to Garrett Hayashida, president of San Francisco Front Runners. He says that being part of such a historic legacy is "kind of amazing."

Hayashida says more than 500 people attended last year’s Pride Run. Regular runs have 100 to 150 participants. "In the pouring rain, though, it’s only hardcore members," he adds.

International Front Runners President Alden Clark, of the Boston club says Boston Front Runners was the third GLBT running group to form. Clark’s been with them for 23 years.

Along with participation in the famous Boston Marathon, the club sponsors an annual Pride Run and the Yuletide Stride, a chilly race set in December, with proceeds supporting a holiday gift program.

Yet, of Boston’s 110 members, Clark says only four runners are committed to attending the IFRG. "We’re trying to get more people." He noted that three Canadian clubs will attend. He also mentioned a new club having formed in Mexico, but so far none of its members have been able to attend U.S. events. Adds Clark, "It is more of an economic problem for some groups."

Still, the Front Runners community has expanded to five continents. Patrick Lemaire of Front Runners Marseille says he’s unsure who among his fellow athletes may attend upcoming U.S. running events, like this summer’s IFRG or Gay Games VII in 2006.

Stefan Bellevue, a Berlin Front Runner and the representative for Europe with Front Runners International, says that European running groups are very often a part of a sporting club with many sections. "Many departments are under one roof," he says. "In the U.S., you often have running groups, clubs with their own bylaws. In Europe, the Front Runner movement is not as big and organized as in the U.S. It took a long time for the American movement to arrive."

This summer, German runners have their own anniversary - Berlin’s 10th Gay and Lesbian Run, which has expanded over the years to include track and field events with long distance races. This summer’s EuroGames, held July 24 to Aug. 1 in Munich, will welcome more than 5,000 participants, several hundred of them runners.

Here’s to 30 laps, Front Runners. May there be many more.