Scorecard

RUNAWAY

The nationwide running boom shows no signs of peaking, judging from the runaway sales of The Complete Book of Running by James F. Fixx. Published by Random House only two weeks ago, it is outselling every other book on the Random House list, is in its fourth printing with 85,000 copies off press and is No. 7 on the B. Dalton book-chain list of best sellers and No. 8 in The Washington Post.

A former magazine editor, Fixx began running 10 years ago when his weight ballooned to 213� pounds. Now a lean 159, he looks 10 years younger than his age (45) and is absolutely flabbergasted by the reception his book has received. "If it had sold 10,000 or 12,000 copies, I would have been perfectly happy," says Fixx, now on a promotional tour. There is one discordant note: he ran the New York City Marathon in a slow (for him) 3 hours and 27 minutes. Says Fixx, "Publicizing a running book is a lousy way to train."

CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Sakowitz, the Houston department store that sometimes out-Neimans Marcus, is offering just the thing for the jogger's Christmas stocking: a home jogging track. "Just provide us with at least one-eighth mile," says the Sakowitz catalog, "and we'll provide you with a stone-asphalt-based track coated with (easy on the feet) urethane." The price: $62,500.

WORD FROM THE BIRD

A year ago at this time, Mark (the Bird) Fidrych, the rookie Tiger pitcher who had enthralled Detroit fans with his 19-victory season and his antics on the mound, would be putting on a ruffled shirt and a tuxedo to attend another banquet in his honor. Now the Bird gets up early in the morning in St. Petersburg, Fla., puts on jeans and goes to Huggins-Stengel field to work out with Detroit's team of neophytes in the Florida instructional league. He is testing his shoulder, which was so racked by tendinitis this past season that the Tigers sent him home in August.

"When you're hurt, you wonder," the Bird says. "The wondering is over now. I can throw." Last week he worked two innings against the Phillies' youngsters and gave up only one scratch hit. Says the Bird, "I hope to have a better third year than any year I've ever had. What's going to happen will happen. I'm still playing. If I win, the people'll come out. If I lose, they won't. Correct me if I'm wrong."

BURP!
The new Oakland franchise in the North American Soccer League has been nicknamed the Stompers after "the forgotten heroes of the wine industry, the men and women who used to stomp the grapes." It gets worse. The booster club has been named the Winetasters; the season-ticket holders, the Connoisseurs; and the youth group, the Tiny Bubbles. Wait, there's more yet. The three decks of the Oakland Coliseum are to be divided into Champagne, Chablis and Rose sections, and a dancing group of cheerleaders is called the Corkpoppers.

BEETLEMANIA

The Tokyo Entomological Society charters 30 buses on a weekend to take members on a field trip, and Japanese department stores devote sections to books on insects and insect-collecting equipment. In the opinion of Dr. Ross H. Arnett Jr., a biology professor at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., Americans would do well to emulate the Japanese and take up insect collecting as a pastime or sport. "Compared to photography or even fishing, the equipment is inexpensive, and the exercise is great," Dr. Arnett says. "And beetles are a great place to start."