WHEN I WAS A KID, my family frequently visited my mother’s Irish kin in County Meath, just outside Dublin. By the mid-1990s, my brother, sister and I—all school jocks back at home—would spend part of our holiday jogging to keep fit. Our relatives thought we were nuts. Back then, you’d rarely see a local running or biking for sport, at least not in County Meath. Outdoor activity, as I recall, was limited to pedaling an old bike to a neighbor’s for tea and brown bread or to the local pub for a Guinness and music sessions.
These...