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Running Out
How far could you go? After a plane crash in a remote Canadian wilderness, elite endurance runner Dan Collins laces up his trail shoes and faces the race of his life—to save his wife, his daughter, and himself.
The James Bay Region of far northern Quebec is one of the most isolated locations on Earth. Dan, his wife Deb, and their young daughter survive the crash, but Deb’s leg is broken, and no one is looking for them—or even knows they’re missing.
Dan may be better prepared athletically than anyone alive to cover hundreds of miles of broken ground on foot. His training as a health professional, though, gives him unique insight to the agonizing deterioration of his body and mind as his journey unfolds, and his analytical mind finds constant metaphor in his continuing metabolic breakdown.
His physical progress is paralleled with a careful and tender examination of Dan’s and Deb’s ambivalent marriage, and the tension between them as ambitious elite athletes in the very different worlds of the road marathon and the trail ultra. Runners of any distance will find a uniquely deep consideration of these two sometimes opposing aspects of the sport—the fame of fabled road races vs. the allure of the lonely rugged trail—and every reader will relate to themes of ambition, guilt, identity and loss as they play out for one character in the race of his life.
Running Out does for ultrarunning what Once a Runner did for the track mile, and readers who enjoy nonfiction about running like Born to Run will be engrossed in a survival narrative thriller set against the backdrop of endurance running and extreme sports.
The James Bay Region of far northern Quebec is one of the most isolated locations on Earth. Dan, his wife Deb, and their young daughter survive the crash, but Deb’s leg is broken, and no one is looking for them—or even knows they’re missing.
Dan may be better prepared athletically than anyone alive to cover hundreds of miles of broken ground on foot. His training as a health professional, though, gives him unique insight to the agonizing deterioration of his body and mind as his journey unfolds, and his analytical mind finds constant metaphor in his continuing metabolic breakdown.
His physical progress is paralleled with a careful and tender examination of Dan’s and Deb’s ambivalent marriage, and the tension between them as ambitious elite athletes in the very different worlds of the road marathon and the trail ultra. Runners of any distance will find a uniquely deep consideration of these two sometimes opposing aspects of the sport—the fame of fabled road races vs. the allure of the lonely rugged trail—and every reader will relate to themes of ambition, guilt, identity and loss as they play out for one character in the race of his life.
Running Out does for ultrarunning what Once a Runner did for the track mile, and readers who enjoy nonfiction about running like Born to Run will be engrossed in a survival narrative thriller set against the backdrop of endurance running and extreme sports.
252 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2023
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14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 23, 2018
Wasn't bad. As a runner, I enjoyed learning of the main protagonist's path in life. I don't want to spoil the book, but the end left me hanging a bit. I don't think it was wrapped up well.
April 17, 2025
This was a great book. In the beginning I thought there were too many story lines and it was a little confusing, but once I caught on it was much better. By the end I couldn't put it down. It's a great book for runners, especially distance runners.
September 21, 2022
As someone who is by no means athletic or anything, I found this harder for me to grasp, but as someone who enjoys science, I was quite intrigued by the layout and information that went into this story. It was a lot to take in and comprehend looking back, but the way it's sprinkled into the story of Dan's trials and present-time circumstances bridged the gap to let everything soak in. I didn't think it was up my alley, but I ended up enjoying this more than I thought. There's a bit of mild humor that lightens the situation, too. And I think that really brings out the internal reflection of who the main character is with this subtle shift of a man as his life becomes more than just running.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews