Run Gently Out There: Trials, trails, and tribulations of running ultramarathons

by John Morelock

If on leaving a trailhead, you only glance at your watch to have an idea of when you need to be back , parts of this book will be for you. If when crossing a desert valley, you wonder what it is like to run in the silence and solitude way out there , parts of this book will be for you. If wading across a beaver pond during a run seemed the only logical thing to do , parts of this book will be for you. If you ever thought of running fifty miles in one day , parts of this book will be for you. If you sometimes went out after sunset for a run because you saw a cloudless sky and you wanted to run under a visible night sky , parts of this book will be for you. If you need to be out there where running with pauses continues to be just as important as the occasional run with the stopwatch on , then Run Gently Out There is for you. Go along with the author as he takes you on a run that is not about anyone in particular, rather it is about what makes running trails and ultramarathons become a love affair with being out there and how running becomes part of a way of living.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Memoir, Adventure

354 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2013

Reviews

[Scott Kummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read most books that are of interest to trail and ultra running. Without fail they seems to be either 1) Ficton; 2) Elite's explaining "how to" (usually to an audience that is looking for a simple answer/solution; or 3) Memoirs which are all about the author.

This book is very different.

Mr. Morelock opens up the soul of trail and ultra running. He exposes it's roots. It's hopes and dreams and fears. He demonstrates through several short stories and segments that this kind of running can't be taught, explained, or planned. It is something we learn through time on the trail. Through opening our hearts and minds. Through observation of our surroundings and processing the information we obtain about running, the environment and ourselves while we are out there.

If trail running had a diary, this would be it. Bravo Mr. Morelock. This is THE book that all trail and ultra runners need to read.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Morelock is a fast runner. I am slower than a turtle. However, this will be a candidate for my favorite read of the year.

One favorite is the food section. Yes: this running book includes an entire chapter about food. Ultras: maybe you have to be there.

Mr. Morelock has a way of sneaking in a subtle statement here and there that will make you laugh then choke you up. He also is a highly technically talented trail runner who has completed numerous hundos, and he's happy to share his Yoda-like expertise with us.

The stream of consciousness style might not be for everyone, but it worked well enough for me. The simple observations about his environment pleased me greatly.

Outstanding. Sweet. Highest recommendation. Thank you, Scott Kummer, for recommending this.

[Rach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful, contemplative book of essays about the joys, trials, and peace of running long distances and basking in the outdoors. I loved a lot of these stories, especially since so many of them took place in my own backyard, in the forests and mountains and plains of my home state, Washington. That store John picked up his first Ultrarunner Magazine at? I start my Tuesday night runs there every week. I also loved his stories of race experiences, and his advice about training, running, and racing based on his many years in the sport. So much good inspiration to make note for those times on the trail when things are feeling dark: just keep going, and don’t forget you’re not alone out there: helping your fellow runners can help yourself sometimes, too. Here’s a few quotes I wrote down to remember:

“You can almost always talk yourself into trying to get to one more aid station. As the day and night wears on you will probably pause and run with other runners, you will lean on each other, support each other, and help each other through the journey. What’s why we run, isn’t it?”

“Don't stop. Keep moving. Somewhere along the way, emotional low points will come; don't stop for them. Continued movement will bring you back around. Don't sit in those chairs at the ald stations unless you really need to. Think about how far you have come. Encourage other runners. Smiles and laughter will help others. Helping others will help you.“

“Later, as we analyzed all the little things along the trail, one of the "don't ever do this again"
items now understood was "Do not ever say aloud anything negative while still on the course." You can slow from run to jog to shuffle to trudge, but you can keep going without saying for all to hear, "No, I am not okay." Once you say that, you are at the bottom, and if you don't know about stop/regroup/go, you are done for the day.”

“Please, please do not put "only" in front of the distance you run. You ran it. It is yours to enjoy, not apologetically mentioned in a hushed voice. I did ten miles Saturday that I was just tickled pink with because of the way I did the uphill stretch-hardest running I have done in several weeks. Do not put words into describing your running that are driven by someone else's ego.”

“Don't ever think everyone out there has always been fit and fast and slim and faced no battles getting there. Just keep going out there. Believe in yourself and keep going out there. Always keep going out there.”

I think the one drawback to this book is it lacks any sort of organization. These are clearly essays he has written across many years for various blogs and other publications, and while they are grouped in chapters, there doesn’t seem to be any order to them. They’re just all gathered. Because of that, there’s quite a few times stories are repeated, or referenced throughout the book without being fully explained. It wouldn’t really matter how it was organized - by theme, or by year, or by location - but any sort of organization and editing would have really helped the book flow more as a cohesive unit. As it was, I sort of lost motivation about halfway through when I realized themes and stories were starting to repeat, without much new being added.

And then, tacked on to the very end were some fantastic chapters on their Camino de Santiago, their walk across Spain. Those pieces are fantastic, and I wish they had been highlighted more. He does mention that they’re working of a book about the Camino, and the section included here was a sort of preview, so I really hope that happens because I would love to read it. I also really enjoyed the very last essay about his wife.

[Wendi Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked author's appreciation and descriptions of the animals, birds, trees, and even rocks on his various trail runs. He stops a lot and talks to people and nature and self. I could relate. Reading this book felt like the mental part of trail running. Enjoyment. Gratitude. Miles pass while being fully in the now - partly from the running but also from navigating natural terrain. Easily rereadable, like returning to favorite trails.

[Reid Belew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you finish books and you just want to meet the author. I wish I could hug John Morelock.

This is a funny, original, and inspiring collection of hundreds of vignettes about running written by Moreland over the years.

If there was ever a book to get you out the door, this might be it.

[Jason Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have read many books regarding trail and ultra running. this far and away my favorite. a non-linear love letter to running, the trails, life, sprinkled with hard-earned wisdom and humor. the author was a unique voice in our ultra community, and his personal, reflective style is a lasting gift to his admirers. run gently up there, john.

[Thebestdogmom · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a collection of very short stories, some only a half a page long. Mostly they sound like journal entries. The book is mostly his thoughts and observations taken while running. It's not a bad book, just no solid straight through story that I typically enjoy more.

[Ian Landrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Read

Funny style, a great perspective on learning to appreciate everything around you. Trail running can take you to some amazing places.

[Peter Andersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the friendliest running book ever written and I doubt something like it will ever be published again - I've kept it around for several years so that I could forget enough to read it as new one day.

In it there are no olympic accolades, no list of big accomplisments, no sneaky (or outright) sponsor endorsements, no contract disputes, no backhanded compliments to competitors, no new takes on old twitter beefs, no mandatory politically correct upsets and/or takes about performance enhancing drugs in sports, no big diss on road running despite the author clearly preferring mountain trails, not even... well, you get the picture.

Simply a gathering of trail running columns from an author who was there over several decades when ultras started to become a thing and clearly loves being out in nature - most of them only a few pages short - kinda perfect for your wind-down session on the couch after your long run when it doesn't matter if you fall asleep after a couple of chapters because you can just pick up where you left off again next time.

[Crystal Bailar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a book about trail running that’s relatable to average or slow trail runners like me.
It was especially easy to connect with the author as described running trails I know and have run myself. Here we have a fast accomplished runner writing about trail running in away that makes it feel attainable for people who are not elite.
His humor and contemplative style makes this an enjoyable, and relaxing yet inspiring read.

[Lucas Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about running, and one of the most enjoyable memoirs, I've ever read. It's a collection of essays written as a magazine column kind of smashed together as a book, and it's rough around the edges, as far as the editing goes....but the main paints a wonderful picture of the PNW, of trails, of community, and of the power and allure of running.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took a few pages to get into, as this is less a single story, and more of a collection off thoughts and stories across a number of years, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the book.

I've finished the book feeling like I know the author, and can only hope he had many years of running shared of him

[Hayley Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an easy book to read and quite funny in part. And has kept me motivated while I do C25k.

[Michael DeCaprio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A nature-lover's take on trail running. A trail runner's take on nature.

[Paula Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it as a runner and reader, but for some it may be too disjointed.

[Dave J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on trail running (and often times life) I have read. Learned a lot about the pacific northwest as well.

[Meg]

Gentle, lightly humourous, short essays about running and nature and community.

[Sara LeMaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much. It's like a salve for a tired brain

[cory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bad weather always looks worse through a window. —Author Unknown

to someone who understands, no explanation is necessary. to someone who does not understand, no amount of explanation will suffice.

Nobody is going to finish this damn thing for me, but me. —Unknown

I would find out trail runners remember trail runners and hellos to strangers today would be greetings to friends at some other trail miles and maybe months away.

A person might share some words with a stranger along some trail new to both of them and then months later and hundreds of miles away renew the conversation.

90% of ultrarunning is 100% mental. —Unknown

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms, their energy. Your cares and tensions will drop away like the leaves of autumn. —John Muir

It isn’t like I wanted to wrestle a bear, not anything like that, but I wanted to go where they live— the Northern Rockies with their bluffs thousands of feet tall, valleys carved by glaciers, and lakes made of water from the glaciers’ retreat—and run in a place where nature dwarfs man in a fashion that reminds one of one’s place. I am a guest here on this planet, barely tolerated.

you move from doing things to show other people you could, to where you do things to look into yourself, into your soul, and see who you are and what you're all about. - scott weber

The runner gets the shoes to the finish line more than the shoes get the runner to the finish line.

by the time you stand at your first starting line, there will have been at least one time in the dark of the night that you found yourself clinging to the ceiling by your fingernails, and if any are left, your toenails, wondering did i train well?

non cupidus cognoscendi quae rara mirague sunt ("too great a desire to know"). paraphrased... he wanted to know
before he learned, but learning takes time.

The people that I have met are not foolish; they are aware of how tired and cold and hungry and frightened and hurting and discouraged and disoriented and how possibly injured they will become. They know they will face great physical, mental, emotional, and possibly spiritual challenges as they make their way to the finish. This is what they are racing against. This is their challenge. This is what I admire. —Carolyn Erdman

no matter how well you know the course, no matter how well you may have done in a given race in the past, you never know for certain what lies ahead on the day you stand at the starting line waiting to test yourself once again. if you did know, it would not be a test, and there would be no reason for being there. - dan baglione

Leadville, Colorado, is a sleepy little town way high up in the Rockies. The whole “sleepy” bit goes out the window,
though, as almost every eating place in town opens at three o’dark in the morning on a certain Saturday in August each year. Strangely garbed, almost awake people (runners) are accompanied by strangely garbed, way too cheerful people (crew), all checking out the eateries. Many have been up most of the night staring at the ceiling and waiting. Breakfast fuels the morning but also fills the remaining time.
As much as I liked our stay in Leadville, it was the Monday-morning departure breakfast that was special. There were no private tables, no strangers anymore. “Mind if we join you?” was heard time and time again. Some ate two breakfasts before an attempt was made to walk to the door— the beginning of a long trip home accompanied by a reluctance to leave this place of triumph.

Sunshine is delicious, Rain is refreshing, Wind braces us up, Snow is exhilarating; There’s really no such thing as bad weather, Only different kinds of good weather. —John Ruskin

even in our defeats we have tried to do things most would shy away from, we have looked behind all three doors, faced whatever was there, known and unknown, and continued to try. as we tasted the bitterness of defeat that comes with trying, we got to know ourselves a little bit better. it may not seem like much of a reward at the time you sit down, not to get back up, but it is - and we will try again.

... and that's one of the best things about running ultramarathons. the list of dreams is never ending.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

While portions of this book were lovely, the book as a whole was challenging for me to get enthusiastic about. The format is odd, and the last 80 pages or dragged on and on and on for me. I didn’t feel any new insights were coming along and Morelock just didn’t know when to stop. If I had the time and energy, I think I could re-edit and abridge this book into the type of book I was hoping for when I started reading. There might be an audience for this book, but it wasn’t me.

For a full review visit http://ireadalotofbooks.com/run-gentl...

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never met John Morelock, but these circles of trail-loving fools are only so large. I know many of the trails of which we writes, or if not those trails exactly, then their cousins.

The trails themselves are immaterial outside of the experience on them, beside them, getting to know them. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, indeed.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this felt like sitting around a table listening to John tell stories. It is not a book on training, but the experiences related should be invaluable, especially to a novice distance runner or ultra runner.

[Dan Stoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice collection of stories about trail running.

[Mike]

Interesting short stories about John Morelock's adventures with ultra marathons.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better running memoirs I've stumbled across. I was lucky enough to be gifted it by a fellow runner and I will certainly pass it on as well.