DIRECTIONS IN RUNNING
a residency at LIFE DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY
4241 Crenshaw Boulevard
1 March - 12 April 2026
After a decade creating, cultivating, and curating running culture in New York City and around the world, writer, marathoner, coach, and archivist Knox Robinson moved to Los Angeles just as the city was awash in a postpandemic running boom—where passionate everyday athletes were creating community in love with the promise and the potential of long distance running.
Obsessed as always with serving the idea of “making better runners / making runners better,” Robinson’s headlong deep dive into California life and style planted the seed for MILES AHEAD: a cultural exploration that reflects on the interplay between bodily movement and sociopolitical movements.
Now, in partnership with Life Development University (LDU), MILES AHEAD announces its first-ever residency, located at the Power Building on Crenshaw Boulevard.
The MILES AHEAD + LDU project finds Robinson at a mid-career vantage point. After an initial retail-based pitch for MILES AHEAD made it to the final round for a six-figure grant from a prestigious running industry organization, Robinson decided to run in the other direction, reflecting that serving the needs of runners is less of a market opportunity and almost exclusively about filling a void and collaborating on a space where folks feel free to show up as who, what, where and how they are in the here and now: humans, being.
Situated squarely in LA’s historic Crenshaw District, MILES AHEAD draws inspiration from small town mom-and-pop running stores that were the backbone of the running boom in the 70s and early 80s, as well as US skate shops and indie record stores, Japanese jazz joints, Ethiopian coffeehouses, European cycling cafés—places where community and culture collide.
Taking cues from artist Arthur Jafa’s work with “affective proximity”—whereby objects placed together in unexpected groupings create new and surprising associations—MILES AHEAD is meant to be both meeting place and inspiration. At LDU, Robinson remixes art with archival photography, posters, and books from LA and beyond with a continuous soundtrack of jazz LPs played on a studio soundsystem in a dedicated listening environment.
MILES AHEAD also features original artwork and archival materials from the estate of Aurelia Brooks (1931-2021), co-founder of the California African American Museum (CAAM), the historic institution that opened to the public more than 40 years ago with the landmark exhibit “Black Olympians: 1904-1984.”
In keeping with LDU’s future mission to host residencies that serve the Crenshaw community, MILES AHEAD comes alive with a select calendar of public programs ranging from group runs, film screenings, book readings, discussions, and tea and coffee offerings. MILES AHEAD also features regularly scheduled listening sessions and open decks on the house hifi. At other times, you’ll find Robinson at work on his writing practice, returning to the visceral form that won him notoriety as a journalist and later as a gripping chronicler of running culture’s rise.
And though by no means intended as a running retail store, MILES AHEAD offers an unprecedented selection of LA and 1984 Olympics themed vintage running and fitness apparel for purchase, along with a series of limited edition residency-themed apparel produced by Robinson and MILES AHEAD in conjunction with Life Development University.
Understanding that—in the long run—we need more than a pair of shoes, MILES AHEAD considers the essential and energetic elements that might form a healthful, sustainable, community-based running practice.
