The Long Run: Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and the Decade That Made the Marathon Cool

by Martin Dugard

A dramatic narrative telling the story behind the running and marathon boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, featuring the stories of Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Grete Waitz, and many others, and how a generation of runners turned a formerly obscure distance into a national obsession

On September 3, 1970, the New York City Marathon was run for the first time. One hundred twenty-seven runners paid a $1 entry fee. The race was won by a Long Island firefighter who came to the starting line straight from his overnight shift. Only one woman competed. All but one runner was a New York resident.

Fifty-four years later, nearly fifty thousand runners finished the same race. Nearly half were women. More than three times as many runners applied, and over two million spectators watched. Today, runners from all over the world run the NYC Marathon, and many others like it. Marathons are inclusive, fully global, and still exploding in popularity.

How did we get from there to here? As Martin Dugard, long-time runner, running coach, and #1 New York Times bestselling author explains, it was thanks to four very special runners who changed the way America, and the world, saw running. The Long Run will celebrate these athletes—Frank Shorter, Steve Prefontaine, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Grete Waitz—and many more, sharing stories of the specific races and social movements that transformed running from a niche sport to a national obsession. It is a story with big characters, enormous moments, and a historical arc that has never been completely explored. The Long Run will reveal how the sport of running, and the race, that we all know and love became iconic—and how “finishing a marathon” became a top bucket-list goal for runners and non-runners alike.

Genres: Sports, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published April 14, 2026

About the author

Martin Dugard is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the Taking Series — including Taking Berlin (2022) and Taking Paris (2021).

Book Two in the Taking series is titled Taking Berlin, covering the final nine months of World War II in Europe. Taking Berlin goes on sale November 1, 2022.

He is also the co-author of the mega-million selling Killing books, the bestselling non-fiction series in history: Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, Killing Patton, Killing Reagan, Killing England, Killing the Rising Sun, Killing the SS, Killing Crazy Horse, Killing the Mob, and the upcoming Killing the Killers.

Other works include the New York Times bestseller The Murder of King Tut (with James Patterson; Little, Brown, 2009); The Last Voyage of Columbus (Little, Brown, 2005); Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone (Doubleday, 2003), Farther Than Any Man: The Rise and Fall of Captain James Cook (Pocket Books, 2001), Knockdown (Pocket Books, 1999), and Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth (McGraw-Hill, 1998). In addition, Martin lived on the island of Pulau Tiga during the filming of Survivor's inaugural season to write the bestselling Survivor with mega-producer Mark Burnett.

Reviews

[Thebestdogmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a trip down memory lane. I did my first marathon in 1994 and spent a lot of time reading books about the marathon greats and the history of the marathon. This book put a fun twist on some old stories about the legends in this great sport. It made me feel like all the old books I read just told the facts. In this book, you get more of the personal stories and first hand accounts. Dugard does a great job describing the events (both victories and defeats), so wonderful that you could almost feel like you were there watching them unfold.
Personally, after 111 lifetime marathons/ultra marathons I still get nervous every time I wait at the start line and overwhelmed with emotion as I cross each finish line. This book was a wonderful book to read as I train for my next adventure.

[William (Bill) Fluke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this non fiction book on the running boom was very nostalgic for me. My own entry into the running world began in the mid 1970’s and paralleled many of the events/ features that author Martin Dugard writes about. I had not thought about “the Chicken Fat” song (used to promote exercise in elementary school) for many years. The runners featured in the book ( Shorter, Benoit, Rodgers, Waitz) were elite runners that I followed and wanted to be like ( along with Alberto Salazar and Mary Decker Slaney). I had a copy of Jim Fixx’s “The Complete Book on Running” and it seemed like everyone did. My running entry came as Nike was introducing running shoes ( the Waffle trainer) and I so desired to own such shoes. The author does a good job of pacing the narrative and not getting too bogged down in giving “play by play” accounts of races/ competitions. While the title speaks to the marathon ( I have never run one), the book is more about how running became a big deal. And it still is. The author writes: “ it’s hard to imagine another movement that’s contributed so many positive benefits for health and medicine , created a business engine that sprawls around the globe - and above all , is an affordable and accessible undertaking bringing folks together from so many cultures and demographics with so few negative consequences “. I completely agree!!

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

If there's any nonfiction book that needs a Young Readers Edition, it would be this. What a fascinating look at distance running over an enormous range of time (we start, of course, with Pheidippides!), which does concentrate of the running boom that took hold in the 1970s. I loved that Dugard is a runner himself, and was so inspired by watching Frank Shorter's win in the 1972 Olympic Marathon that he immediately went outside and ran in his jeans and Keds. Because that's what we did at that time. There were all sorts of things that anyone who has following the history of running will appreciate; a little biography of Jock Semple, a run down of Bill Bowerman's career, and some of the running shoe drama.

Content wise, this would be okay in a middle school library, but it is quite long.

Can we get a middle school appropriate biography of Prefontaine, please? We really need one. This is probably my second favorite running book after Knight's Shoe Dog. Of course, now I really want a pair of Nike Cortez shoes, in the original white with red and blue accents. I want to try running a mile in them!
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...

[Cameron Kreger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really feel like I geeked out on this book. The history was just so intriguing to me and the descriptions of events were so vivid I could picture it easily. It might not be everyone’s preferred non fiction book but I really loved this

[Sierra Wehrenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

sped through this thoroughly enjoyed

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so inspired - I love running

[Paul Selden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. The interweaving of individuals and key moments in running with the larger moment of running was really compelling and made this hard to put down

[Sarah Lavender Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Penguin Random House for an ARC to review. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I take issue with the writing style and balance of content in the narrative arc, but overall I recommend it for captivating details and analysis of the running boom's evolution and the colorful characters who made it happen. Please read my full review on my newsletter: https://sarahrunning.substack.com/p/m...
Excerpt:
Dugard’s book left me wanting more from the thin profiles of Waitz and Benoit. He (or his publisher) put the two women on the cover and in the subtitle, striding along with Pre and Shorter as if equals, but in the 290-page book, fewer than 30 pages are devoted to spotlighting Grete and Joanie toward the end.
As a reader, you get the feeling Dugard’s heart was in the male-centric story of the 1960s through mid-‘70s because that’s the era that inspired him as a boy and teen to run. I really can’t fault him for that. The rise of long-distance running—both by competitive athletes and slow hobby-joggers—is fascinating, starting with JFK’s exhortation for physical fitness and the long-walk fad. The best chapters involve Coach Bill Bowerman’s pivotal role in the mid-’60s popularizing jogging, followed by the dominance of Pre and Shorter.

[Michelle Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was not for me. The author often writes in sentence fragments, which might give the prose a conversational tone but are very distracting. There is some interesting history in this book (I spent some time on YouTube watching Pre’s Munich 5,000 meter race) and runners will enjoy it in spite of its flaws.

[Rachael Spalding · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably a bad sign that someone who’s as obsessed with distance running as I am got bored and skimmed through the back half. I found the writing difficult to follow and just not compelling, with some really odd sentence construction choices. I think it would probably be better if listened to as an audiobook given the overly casual writing style.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about the running boom in the US, and how the marathon became so popular, along with a history of some great runners.

I greatly appreciated the deeper dive into the stories behind some of the great runners. I knew of Joan Benoit and Grete Waitz, but not the lifetime score between the two. I found many other details of the famous runners very interesting.

The comments on the history and growth of the marathon and the running boom were less interesting to me. I’m very glad I read this book.

[Cecilia Prefontaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book because I grew up with people asking me if I'm related to the famous runner, Steve Prefontaine. While I don't actually know the answer, I enjoyed learning more about his personality and legacy, along with the other influential runners of the time. I typically don't reach for non-fiction, but Dugard did a wonderful job of telling the history of running intertwined with his own narrative and praise for the sport. Highly recommend if you're looking for something historical and different to read this summer!

[Kevin Hanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to realize that this sport I love so much can be traced back not that far to a group of pioneers who normalized and made it accessible. It’s so ubiquitous that my daily “go out for a run” would’ve been been perceived as weird and had people questioning my sanity just 50 short years ago!

[Kim Haris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every marathoner or want-to-be-a marathoner should read this book.

[Greg Janicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun run through running boom history.

[Morgan Porzsolt-Graves · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8 star
While my least favorite distance is 26.2, this ode to the marathon made me want to run right out the door and run one. So many fun facts, amazing stories and moving characters. It made my heart happy.

[Gabby Rairdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great reminder of how freeing running can be. This was told in a casual yet captivating way. I felt like I was 15 reading Runner’s World again and learning about what it takes to be an elite runner. Learning about those who paved the way for distance running to be a sport watched more closely was inspiring.

[Maggie · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook, and I highly recommend that as the medium. I really enjoyed this!

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review. Eh. I had such high hopes for this book and it really didn’t deliver. I think that’s why it toook me a surprisingly long time to get through. There were some really good stories and appreciated the myth busting, but the writing just wasn’t there. I’m not sure if this was just super early in the editing process, but I’d expect Dugard’s own to be stronger too. That said, I’d have loved this as an audiobook hearing his research and love for the sport and its history.

[Holly C · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1896, seventeen men lined up to run from Marathon to Athens in the first modern Olympics. “Wine is the Gatorade of these Games…Cigarettes open the lungs before a steep climb.” As Martin Dugard describes, running has come a long way in the time since. The Long Run chronicles the evolution of distance running by professionals, in popular culture, and as a mass movement. As the subtitle suggests, certain key athletes throughout the 1970s were key to the boom. But Dugard covers much more than the four individuals on the cover. He identifies defining moments, exploring why “the whole world has not just embraced distance running as a spectator sport but are lacing up their shoes…”

Dugard’s is a personal story, and he intersperses chapters with his reflections on growing up during the boom. His love of running is clear (as is his talent—he ran a sub-3 hour marathon). It propels the story forward through the decades, from JFK’s editorial on “The Soft American” to Bill Bowerman’s “jogger’s club” and Jock Semple’s implementation of Boston Marathon qualifying times. He brings Frank Shorter’s 1972 Munich Olympic victory alive via the eyes of Bill Rodgers (Shorter’s future rival), with Rodgers on his couch, chain smoking, glued to the marathon coverage. And Dugard nails the description of the New York City Marathon's unmatched crowds and energy, so much so that he pinpoints the first five-borough version as “the day the running boom begins.”

Dugard’s style is informal, with punchy, incomplete sentences (“Blows up the landscape.”) and frequent imperatives (“Remember that name.”). This becomes a bit grating, but he makes up for it by letting the reader in on his process, explaining how his hypothesis of who and when the boom started changed over the course of his research. The book is heavy on the early history of running—think 490 BC up to the 1908 Olympics in England—unfortunately at the expense of the women in the subtitle. The achievements of Grete Waitz and Joan Benoit only come in the last forty or so pages, less fleshed out than those of Shorter and Prefontaine.

Overall, however, Dugard skillfully traces the lineage of the 1970s running boom and puts today’s explosion of run clubs and run influencers in proper perspective. Anyone with even a slight curiosity about the history of distance running can expect an enjoyable, compelling read.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running as a sport has had a long and interesting history. The marathon event is the premier race, testing an athlete’s endurance and mental fitness. This book by Martin Duggar’s, a marathon runner himself, tells the interesting period from the 1970s where the marathon became more popular for both runners and spectators.

The story actually starts in ancient Greece. The legend of Pheidippides running to tell the people of Athens about the victory at the battlefield of Marathon is a great story, but Dugard shows why that myth doesn’t hold up. The story of why the length of a marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards also is questioned as Dugard explains that the legend of the extra 385 yards being added so the finish line is directly in front of Queen Mary’s box doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. These stories along with others make this early part of the book very interesting.

However, it gets even better when Dugard starts writing about the great runners named in the subtitle of the book. Steve Prefontaine was THE MAN for running in the early and mid-70s as his popularity soared before his tragic death in 1975. Frank Shorter’s gold medal for the marathon brought that race home to millions of American viewers. Joan Benoit Samuelson and Greta Waitz were early pioneers in breaking the glass ceiling (wrongly constructed by the AAU and officials of the Boston and New York City Marathons) for women running long distances. Each of these athletes’ stories are fascinating and make for great reading. It should also be noted that Dugard writes about those two marathons and important milestones for them such as when the New York City Marathon became a run through all five boroughs.

Whether you’re an experienced marathon runner, a runner who settles for shorter distances or even a non-runner, this book is sure to be one that a reader will want to add to their shelves.

I wish to thank Dutton for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.

https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I really hate running. I love this book, though! Martin Dugard tells the story of how America started its love affair with the marathon, jogging, and getting outside.

If you are familiar with Dugard's previous books, then I don't need to sell you all that much on this one. Dugard resurrects names you never knew before or maybe forgot, while reframing names you definitely heard before. It just so happens that we are talking about long distance runners. I was struck at how Dugard's short, action oriented sentences come off differently in this narrative. In his World War II books, his rat a tat sentence structure made you feel the adrenaline rush of battle. Here, the same flow actually feels like it slows down the story to make it feel like you are out for a leisurely jog.

Normally, my favorite parts of Dugard's books are the utterly bizarre facts he finds and presents to the reader. For instance, do you know why the marathon is as long as it is? It takes an actual investigation to find the culprit or I should say culprits. However, this particular facet of myth-busting came back to bite me personally. It turns out my favorite dorky history fact is a myth. I'll never forgive him.

That all said, I found the best part of this book to be Dugard's personal story. This isn't a memoir, but Dugard is a runner and the sport was a major solace to him in his youth. He provides just enough personal insight to allow the reader to connect with the runners we may not have a personal connection to. Steve Prefontaine is probably the most recognizable name in the book, but almost everyone else is probably only known to the most hardcore runners. In summary, you don't have to love running (and I certainly don't) to really like this book.

(This book was provided as an advanced reader copy by NetGalley and Dutton Books.)

[♡︎.ᐟજ⁀➴ Erie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Long Run 🏃‍♀️📖
by Martin Dugard
4 energetic stars

Thank you to Dutton for the ARC 💛

I am not exactly out here pretending to be a marathon girlie, but The Long Run made the rise of distance running feel surprisingly alive. This is not just a book about races. It is about obsession, grit, cultural change, and the wild little spark that turned running from a niche sport into something people build whole identities around. 🏅

Here’s what worked for me:

🏃 The stories of Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Grete Waitz are compelling and full of personality
📜 I loved the myth-busting around marathon history and how the race became what we know today
🎽 Dugard writes race moments with real energy, making victories and defeats feel immediate
💪 The sections on women pushing into marathon running were especially strong and inspiring
🌍 It gives a clear sense of how running became not just a sport, but a movement

What didn’t hit quite as hard:

🐢 The pacing wobbles in places, especially when the book shifts between history, biography, and cultural analysis
⚖️ Some runners and storylines felt more fully developed than others
📝 The writing style is punchy and readable, but occasionally a little too clipped for the bigger emotional moments

Still, this was engaging, informative, and way more interesting than I expected a book about marathon culture to be. Dugard clearly loves the sport, and that affection gives the book its heartbeat.

The Long Run is a great pick for runners, sports history fans, and anyone curious how a brutal 26.2 miles became a bucket-list dream for millions. It made me understand the magic a little better, even if I’m still cheering from the sidewalk with snacks. ✨

[E. C. Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following my super-duper enjoyment of Born to Run, I picked this up while waiting for a different running book to make it to my local bookstore in Albany. And, given how quickly I devoured it, you’d be right that this was also very enjoyable book about running. Dugard doesn’t hunt up any long-secluded Mexican tribes here, but rather writes about the history of the marathon and the several running booms that have hit the US and led to the popularity of running for all demographics. Dugard brings it back to Pheidippides, and then the first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, and then the start of the Boston Marathon, and the gradual expansion of the marathon and the personalities, both obscure and famous, that brought this event out from the superniche realm of kooks and weirdos to its present state of ubiquity. Dugard gives pretty much equal voice to women here, and is clear that the rationale for their exclusion in the marathon for so long was complete nonsense (Stamata Rivithi proved this back in 1896) born of a perverse paternalism. That said, this book isn’t really grinding axes so much as celebrating the sport. I found his breathless perpetual now writing voice – so often free from conjunctions and prepositions and even pronouns – tricky to get used to (the whole book reads like the anhedonia section of Infinite Jest), and Dutton’s poor copy editing annoying (if anyone at Dutton is reading this, I’m available), and the whole everything to be just a lot of fun to read. The epilogue about Des Linden winning Boston in the pouring down rain made me misty. Only a heartless monster wouldn’t want to go run after reading this.

[Mark Bresee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book in so many ways, and in ways that transcend running (and jogging!!) The common thread is running, of course, but Martin Dugard has a remarkable ability to weave into the history of running, and the history of runners some famous some not, the personal, political, cultural, and social events and trends that shaped the runners (including him), the sport, and the society we live in. And Dugard’s writing is compelling, even mixing in a bit (and just the right amount) of personal history in a way that adds to the story and the larger context – this is a proverbial page turner, tough to put down. Too often history is painfully dull and uninspiring, but those who know Dugard’s books and his writing style know that he is the opposite, taking his very thorough research and conveying it on the page in an entertaining and engaging way. In this book Dugard continues to display that unique talent – a talent that had me noticing my elevated heart rate as a flipped through pages reading about the 1972 Olympic Marathon, to name one example, when I know how the race ends! You do not need to love reading history to love this book. You do not need to be a runner or a jogger, or even a lover of sport, to love this book. If you love reading brilliantly written inspiring stories about inspiring people, and learning a lot while you’re doing it, read this book!

[Rachel (bookmamareviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running found me in 2012 when I was a senior in college. I had run as a kid, here and there, but it was mostly as a foray into world of "do not die during the school mile." In college, though, it was different. Running was an outlet of joy. The joy of moving my body, of connecting with others, of accomplishing a goal I didn't even think was in my vocabulary. And, sure enough, as I crested the finish line of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, my whole world changed. I was hooked.

Martin Dugard, in "The Long Run" has put words to this feeling for me. This fantastic read was an easily digestible and deeply enjoyable history of the marathon. From the marathon's origin story (hello ancient Greece) to shoutouts of modern champs (like Des Linden, an icon!), Dugard encompasses just so much fascinating history and puts context to the running boom as we see it today.

I absolutely loved it.

Thanks for taking the time to write this one Martin. It was written like a love letter to this beautiful sport and wow am I here for it!

[Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I'm not a runner at all. Not even a jogger. Heard about this book from the HistoryNerds Podcast and it sounded great. Boy was it. I didn't know any of the runners on the cover by name or by site.

This book touched on a couple of really cool things. First, I grew up in the 70's and as a kid my dad would wake up my brothers and me to start the day with Chicken Fat. Was so cool to hear where this song came from.

I had two neighbors as a kid in the 70's and 80's that ran. This was before people really ran. In fact, everyone in our neighborhood thought it was crazy they would run just to run. This book showed it wasn't just my area.

I lived in Brazil for a few year on an LDS mission in the early 90's. I remember being told the verb to jog was fazer cooper. It's not this anymore but I was starting to think I was crazy. Enter Kenneth Cooper in this book. I was right. :-)

If you're a runner. You will eat this book up. But even if you aren't, like me, you'll will most likely still enjoy the history of running and how it took off to what it is today.

[Mike Sennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read for any runner, but probably most appealing to those runners who came of age in the '70s or 8os. The book covers the history of the marathon from the Ancient Greeks to today's world where the marathon serves as what the author describes as a "suburban Mt. Everest." Along the way, the author delves into the various running booms of the '60s, '70s, and '80s, with much attention paid to athletes like Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers. There is also a focus on the battles women runners fought to be allowed to run longer distances in the Olympics and to participate in marathons. (I'd never heard of the "Six Who Sat" protest where six women sat on the starting line of the NYC marathon, delaying the start by 10 minutes to protest the AAU's "separate start" rule - with complicity of the top men runners who simply stood behind them when the gun went off.) If I have one complaint, it's the author's frequent digressions into his own personal running story, which although somewhat relevant, also occasionally interrupted the flow of the story.

[Sarah K · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book! Written by best-selling author Martin Dugard, this book was well written, informative, and (most importantly) a lovely tribute to the wonderful sport of RUNNING! The author traces the history of the sport, particularly marathon running, from ancient Greece to the present. This book encompasses the history of running for both the truly talented and the average American who runs for fitness. I loved how this book was put together, and really appreciated how the author incorporated his personal history as a runner. His enthusiasm is contagious! The Long Run was written in an engaging and conversational style. Whether you know a lot about the history of this sport or not much at all, you will be sucked in and want to head out for a run after reading each chapter. What a fabulous book!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

[Stacy Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute of this book. As Dugard described all of the amazing runners and races of the iconic age of the mid 70s to the mid 80s I remembered in clear picture all of it like it was yesterday. I grew up and ran with joy during these days, all the way up to running several marathons, that he describes. I was obsessed especially with Grete Waitz. I still have her signed New York Marathon poster hanging on my wall. And as he described Pre’s last days and tragic accident I was again thrust into the insane randomness of it all. Oh yes, and Born to Run. I certainly was. It is the most pure and human sport there is.

This book is decidedly for a specific and narrow audience- those of us who grew up and were immersed in those glory days of running. I am now in my 60s, as is the author, and am still running daily, and still loving every step.