(Found)I think it's "Running Up Main Street"

[PaulMmn]

I think the book/story is titled "Running Up Main Street." There's this town on-board a space station. Everyone -runs-! But always in the same direction. Even if they're going next door clockwise, they run the long way around counter-clockwise.
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Turns out the reason is that they're using their energy to keep the space station spinning.
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Who wrote it, and where is it published?
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I also believe that someone has disproved the physics involved, and that on-board human power couldn't keep the station spinning (although I don't recall why the wheel was slowing down in the first place)l.
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--Paul E Musselman

 

[CassFrank]

This is a match for Thomas Wylde’s “Jogging up Main Street” in Galaxy (1977). From the story: “Joggers make the world go round…”

You can read it here:

Galaxy v38n09 (1977 11) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

(Contents information excerpted from The Internet Speculative Fiction Database)Art:Showcase (Galaxy, November 1977) by James MuellerThe Courts of Chaos (Part 1...

archive.org

 

[PaulMmn]

Mark it FOUND.
Does anyone have any info on why the physics of this won't work?

 

[Orcadian]

Mark it FOUND.
Does anyone have any info on why the physics of this won't work?

First thought is that the joggers are not coupled to the fabric of the space station. It's the structure itself that needs to be spun, not loose obects inside it. All the joggers will do is cause an air current.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

This is a match for Thomas Wylde’s “Jogging up Main Street” in Galaxy (1977). From the story: “Joggers make the world go round…”

You can read it here:

Galaxy v38n09 (1977 11) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

(Contents information excerpted from The Internet Speculative Fiction Database)Art:Showcase (Galaxy, November 1977) by James MuellerThe Courts of Chaos (Part 1...

archive.org

You are the guru of the book search forum.

 

[hitmouse]

First thought is that the joggers are not coupled to the fabric of the space station. It's the structure itself that needs to be spun, not loose obects inside it. All the joggers will do is cause an air current.

Not quite. To move forward, the joggers will have to push off the "ground" as they take steps, so there will be a reaction with the solid structure of the space station. The same applies to moving air molecules.
The contents of the space station are part of the overall angular momentum of the spinning structure. By expending energy e.g. by running, I suppose that could be changed, though the premise seems simplistic from the description given.

 

[Orcadian]

OK, Hitmouse. I find it quite counter-inuitive, though. I am a jogger and when I start to run, all I do is move my weight a bit forward of my centre of gravity. My legs then move out in front at just the right speed to stop me from falling on my face. I am unaware of any "pushing off the ground"; it's more like I'm falling forward under gravity and moving my legs so as to stay upright. (This would presumably feel the same on the space station if it's already rotating.)

 

[PaulMmn]

OK, Hitmouse. I find it quite counter-inuitive, though. I am a jogger and when I start to run, all I do is move my weight a bit forward of my centre of gravity. My legs then move out in front at just the right speed to stop me from falling on my face. I am unaware of any "pushing off the ground"; it's more like I'm falling forward under gravity and moving my legs so as to stay upright. (This would presumably feel the same on the space station if it's already rotating.)

There must be some effort involved in keeping your legs under your body! I'm envisioning it more like a stair climb, with the staircase almost horizontal... although that might be more of a speed race than a jog...

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

I imagine it could be something like the Victorian punishment treadmill, but on a grander scale and with the people inside instead

In other words, a giant hamster wheel

 

[Orcadian]

There must be some effort involved in keeping your legs under your body! I'm envisioning it more like a stair climb, with the staircase almost horizontal... although that might be more of a speed race than a jog...

There is a static force the ground exerts on me, equal and opposite to my weight. But that force does not have a component in the direction of station rotation. The absence of 'pushoff' makes it feel like I am running on the spot, but with my body tilted slightly forwards. You can get the same feeling on a gym treadmill. You aren't pushing, but to stay upright you do have to tilt forwards and keep those legs moving.