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Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed
"Gripping . . . the narrative is smooth and immediate, almost effortless in its detail, if occasionally breathless, like a good fast run . . ." -- The New York Times Book Review
Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners . . . the start of his decades-long quest for championships, Olympic glory, and pursuit of "the epic run."
In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Starting with a ragtag group of high school cross country and track runners, Larsen set out on a decades-long quest to find the secret of running impossibly fast, for longer distances than anyone thought possible. Himself a former farm boy who fell into his track career by accident, Larsen worked through coaching high school, junior college, and college, coaxing talented runners away from more traditional sports as the running craze was in its infancy in the 60's and 70's. On the arid trails and windy roads of California, Larsen relentlessly sought the 'secret sauce' of speed and endurance that would catapult American running onto the national stage.
Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners (elite and recreational) to breakthroughs never imagined. New York Times Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse of the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite 70's running group, the Jamul Toads, from national championships to his long tenure as head coach at UCLA, and from the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's protégé, American Meb Keflezighi, to victories at the New York and Boston Marathons as well as the Olympics. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther.
Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners . . . the start of his decades-long quest for championships, Olympic glory, and pursuit of "the epic run."
In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Starting with a ragtag group of high school cross country and track runners, Larsen set out on a decades-long quest to find the secret of running impossibly fast, for longer distances than anyone thought possible. Himself a former farm boy who fell into his track career by accident, Larsen worked through coaching high school, junior college, and college, coaxing talented runners away from more traditional sports as the running craze was in its infancy in the 60's and 70's. On the arid trails and windy roads of California, Larsen relentlessly sought the 'secret sauce' of speed and endurance that would catapult American running onto the national stage.
Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners (elite and recreational) to breakthroughs never imagined. New York Times Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse of the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite 70's running group, the Jamul Toads, from national championships to his long tenure as head coach at UCLA, and from the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's protégé, American Meb Keflezighi, to victories at the New York and Boston Marathons as well as the Olympics. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published June 4, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
July 6, 2019
This was a frustrating read for me. The book had the potential for greatness. Futterman examines what it takes to be a great distance runner, why American distance runners were successful in the 1970's, declined to a nadir by the early 2000's, and are now enjoying a renaissance. He uses running coach Bob Larsen as the starting point for his narrative arc. The problem is that Futterman basically rehashes a bunch of material from other running books, sort of like a mixtape. There's bits and pieces from books by Deena Kastor, Meb Kehflezighi, Frank Shorter, Phil Knight, etc. The narrative doesn't really cohere. Futterman spends significant time discussing some obscure distance runners from the San Diego area in the 1970's and then midway through, those guys are dropped and the book becomes a digested version of the Meb biography. Bob Larsen becomes almost a supporting character in a book that is ostensibly about him. Interspersed throughout the book are Futterman's personal running vignettes, which were not interesting and shared no commonality with the larger narrative of the book. Futterman's third-party omniscient "you are there" narrative set my teeth on edge. If you are looking for a good running book of recent vintage, check out Deena Kastor's "Let Your Mind Run".
April 3, 2019
Drawing a direct line from coaching high school students to Olympic medalists and Boston Marathon winners, NYT sports editor Matthew Futterman tells the story of coach Bob Larsen and his efforts to unlock the secrets of running far fast. Thanks to a deft, fast-paced writing style and especially great characterizations that bring unheralded high schoolers to life just as vividly as national champions, this is the best book on running since Christopher McDougall's Born to Run. While the subject matter here is distance running, be prepared to read this in a sprint.
July 6, 2019
WARNING! I am very biased. I have been coaching young distance runners for 30+ years. I love the sport and it’s lore. I eat this stuff up. This is the story of Bob Larsen, his Toads and a life long devotion to running fast. Matthew Futterman tells the story and sprinkles in tidbits related to his own adventures in the world of runners. The first half of the book is set in the 1970s with the Toads and the second half is devoted to the journey of the incomparable Meb Keflezighi. THIS IS A GREAT READ!!
June 21, 2019
This book was all over the map for me. I immensely enjoyed the sections on the Toads and their young runners. Had the book been just about them and coach Bob Larson, it would have been a five star read. But the sections where the author inserted himself were not adding to the story. It’s still okay for running enthusiasts but unless the reader is invested heavily in the sport, this isn’t one that he or she would enjoy.
July 19, 2019
Loved this exploration of coach Bob Larsen's training methods. So well written, it reads like a novel. My only quibble (and it's a minor one) is the author's own story interspersed throughout the book. Fortunately, those sections are short and don't distract much from the rest of the book, which is really interesting.
My full review: http://bit.ly/2JEZzcA
My full review: http://bit.ly/2JEZzcA
August 7, 2019
I will give it a 4, but probably a 3.5 for most people. This book is much like a history of coaching running. It goes into enough detail on training that most runners will be intrigued while non-runners will be bored. The cast of characters is vast and motley.
The truths shared about running are self assuring for me. But I am a runner. I am not sure this book would be appreciated by a non-runner. So, in that way, it has almost too narrow a scope, unlike some other running narratives I have read.
The truths shared about running are self assuring for me. But I am a runner. I am not sure this book would be appreciated by a non-runner. So, in that way, it has almost too narrow a scope, unlike some other running narratives I have read.
July 4, 2019
weirdly [IMO], the subtitle is different on the book itself and in the tiny picture you can see on goodreads vs. the alleged goodreads title. A mystery someone else will have to investigate I guess.
As to the book itself, kind of an odd amalgamation of topics -- He intersperses brief scenes from his own career as an above-average but not outstanding runner with three major stories:
(a) the formation of the Jamul Toads team in and around San Diego in the mid-1970s
(b) the Mammoth Lakes training group of early 00's, and especially the career of Meb K with special emphasis on his NYC and Boston marathon wins and silver medal at the Athens Olympics
(c) insights of the coach, Bob Larsen, who connects the first two stories -- notably the value of lactate threshold training via continuous tempo runs [the physiology came later it seems, Larsen's work being more trial and error at first].
The first was the most informative to me -- i was in high school then and remember reading about the Toads' doing well at national x-c championship and thinking it was a funny name for a team, but I didn't know the origin story [blending of two rival teams] or even that Bob Larsen had been the coach.
Second story is extremely well-known if you've been following American distance running past 20 years or so. Fine, but nothing new or different in this retelling.
Third was good, and he clearly got a lot of time and cooperation from Meb and from Coach Larsen, but i did have a few quibbles:
(a) unless I missed it, he never once mentions Jack Daniels, who also [don't know if before, after, or simultaneously] played a huge role in popularizing significance of lactate threshold training
(b) again unless I missed it, never mentions variants such as cruise intervals -- at times the writing gets breathless, as though the continuous tempo along with live high/train low altititude stints will make you as good as the best East Africans, and anything else is worthless.
(c) [stylistic fault-finding] he clearly loves the phrase "running to the edge" to describe tempos. repeats it remarkably often. just once, to have mercy on the reader, maybe sprinkle in Daniels' "comfortably hard" descriptor?
Fact check time.....
--15 k is not 9.25 miles (p. 196) -- I'm opposed to translating metric to British units anyway, as it prevents people from learning metric [everyone now knows liters from being able to visualize "2-liter soda bottle" not by thinking it's 1.05669 quarts to the liter and doing conversions], but if you're going to do it to the hundredth of a mile let's be accurate.
--Meb did not win Athens olympic marathon (p. 236: "Maybe Athens was a fluke, or even his peak. He was 28 when he won there....") -- strange error since author had just recently recapped story of Meb's silver medal performance in that race.
--can't find the page now, but i remember also he said marathon is 42.5 km, which is wrong. it's 42.195
anyway, 5 star inherent interest of the topic, 2 star execution, average of 3.5, rounded down because I'm tired and cranky this morning.
As to the book itself, kind of an odd amalgamation of topics -- He intersperses brief scenes from his own career as an above-average but not outstanding runner with three major stories:
(a) the formation of the Jamul Toads team in and around San Diego in the mid-1970s
(b) the Mammoth Lakes training group of early 00's, and especially the career of Meb K with special emphasis on his NYC and Boston marathon wins and silver medal at the Athens Olympics
(c) insights of the coach, Bob Larsen, who connects the first two stories -- notably the value of lactate threshold training via continuous tempo runs [the physiology came later it seems, Larsen's work being more trial and error at first].
The first was the most informative to me -- i was in high school then and remember reading about the Toads' doing well at national x-c championship and thinking it was a funny name for a team, but I didn't know the origin story [blending of two rival teams] or even that Bob Larsen had been the coach.
Second story is extremely well-known if you've been following American distance running past 20 years or so. Fine, but nothing new or different in this retelling.
Third was good, and he clearly got a lot of time and cooperation from Meb and from Coach Larsen, but i did have a few quibbles:
(a) unless I missed it, he never once mentions Jack Daniels, who also [don't know if before, after, or simultaneously] played a huge role in popularizing significance of lactate threshold training
(b) again unless I missed it, never mentions variants such as cruise intervals -- at times the writing gets breathless, as though the continuous tempo along with live high/train low altititude stints will make you as good as the best East Africans, and anything else is worthless.
(c) [stylistic fault-finding] he clearly loves the phrase "running to the edge" to describe tempos. repeats it remarkably often. just once, to have mercy on the reader, maybe sprinkle in Daniels' "comfortably hard" descriptor?
Fact check time.....
--15 k is not 9.25 miles (p. 196) -- I'm opposed to translating metric to British units anyway, as it prevents people from learning metric [everyone now knows liters from being able to visualize "2-liter soda bottle" not by thinking it's 1.05669 quarts to the liter and doing conversions], but if you're going to do it to the hundredth of a mile let's be accurate.
--Meb did not win Athens olympic marathon (p. 236: "Maybe Athens was a fluke, or even his peak. He was 28 when he won there....") -- strange error since author had just recently recapped story of Meb's silver medal performance in that race.
--can't find the page now, but i remember also he said marathon is 42.5 km, which is wrong. it's 42.195
anyway, 5 star inherent interest of the topic, 2 star execution, average of 3.5, rounded down because I'm tired and cranky this morning.
November 1, 2019
This book was WONDERFUL, perhaps my new favorite nonfiction running book of all time. It weaves the tale of Bob Larsen, coach, with tales of his athletes ranging from a group of misfits in southern California in the 70s to Meb Keflezghi, while also incorporating short essays on the author's experiences with running. I got chills several times. Feeling very lucky to have randomly encountered it on the "new releases" library shelf the week before a marathon!
August 24, 2020
This was a very enjoyable book to read. I like reading about running coaches and athletes back in the day. This book focused on Coach Bob Larson (based in San Diego) and his running career and then his coaching career. It was really neat to see how he recruited Meb Keflezighi for UCLA and ended up working with Coach Joe Vigil and Deena Kastor in the 2000s. This book goes hand in hand with Deena Kastor's book Let Your Mind Run.
I have never been a fan of Nike. This book sheds even more light on the bad inner workings of Nike and how they treat their athletes. Three times Bob Larson went to them to ask for funding for his athletes and all three times they turned him down. His runners then went on to win national championships and Olympic medals without the financial backing of Nike (or the amount that was a drop in the bucket for a company like Nike). This book also explains how Nike treated Meb and his family and why he ended up being sponsored by Sketchers. After Nike tried to screw Meb over in his contract he went on to win the Boston Marathon in 2014 and he was sponsored by Sketchers.
Matt Futterman also did a nice job weaving his own running stories into the book. The story about the 86 year old woman who only started running around age 60 and then started completing marathons was very touching.
I have never been a fan of Nike. This book sheds even more light on the bad inner workings of Nike and how they treat their athletes. Three times Bob Larson went to them to ask for funding for his athletes and all three times they turned him down. His runners then went on to win national championships and Olympic medals without the financial backing of Nike (or the amount that was a drop in the bucket for a company like Nike). This book also explains how Nike treated Meb and his family and why he ended up being sponsored by Sketchers. After Nike tried to screw Meb over in his contract he went on to win the Boston Marathon in 2014 and he was sponsored by Sketchers.
Matt Futterman also did a nice job weaving his own running stories into the book. The story about the 86 year old woman who only started running around age 60 and then started completing marathons was very touching.
July 31, 2019
This is a great book even if you are not a runner!
February 19, 2019
Excellent book!
March 9, 2023
Didn’t love it didn’t hate it. Second half was basically Meb’s book in half the space. I enjoyed the first half about the Toads more honestly.
August 13, 2019
These days, I feel like someone who used to be a runner. My current outings are huff-and-puff fests, even the easy ones, and I haven't had a decent race since late 2016. "So are you still running?" people ask me, and I wonder if I look *that* bad now. While I know that running's health benefits have little to do with whether I look like a runner or am my version of fast, leanness and speed are nice side effects, and seeing them disappear, and not knowing why, has been tough.
Enter this book. I wasn't sure at first it would be the right book for this moment. It starts with a view of Meb Keflezighi's silver medal run in the 2004 Olympic Marathon from the perspective of his coach, Bob Larsen. Though I hadn't heard Larsen's angle on this race before, I've heard enough other accounts of it, including Meb's own in his most recent book, that I wondered why I needed to read about it again. And, Meb's well-known story aside, maybe I've just read so many running books (and cast many others aside without finishing them) that at this point the language of "running inspiration" strikes me as tired. Futterman does indulge in cliches at times throughout this book: "A run can be solace or celebration"--sigh--and, at one cringe-worthy point, a reference to Meb being the man who could "make America fast again."
But it turns out the Bob Larsen angle is what I needed. Once past the 2004 Olympic preface, I found myself caught up in Futterman's enthusiastic story of Larsen's early years as a coach when he assembled a motley group of unknowns and turned them into national cross-country champs, a team called the Jamul Toads. As I read about their hard work and their underdog scrappiness, I found my enthusiasm for running rekindling itself. I'm getting older, have a lot going on in my non-running life, and (let's face it) was never really fast. But I don't have to be a past-tense runner. That's the best lesson from Meb's career as well. Many times everyone but Larsen and Meb himself gave up on Meb. The doubters were wrong every time.
Futterman states his organizing theme late in the book: "After the thrilling ascendance of youth, life and running become a series of episodes, of ups and downs, falls and rises. Really, all that matters is what we do next."
I, like Bob Larsen, believe in rising.
Enter this book. I wasn't sure at first it would be the right book for this moment. It starts with a view of Meb Keflezighi's silver medal run in the 2004 Olympic Marathon from the perspective of his coach, Bob Larsen. Though I hadn't heard Larsen's angle on this race before, I've heard enough other accounts of it, including Meb's own in his most recent book, that I wondered why I needed to read about it again. And, Meb's well-known story aside, maybe I've just read so many running books (and cast many others aside without finishing them) that at this point the language of "running inspiration" strikes me as tired. Futterman does indulge in cliches at times throughout this book: "A run can be solace or celebration"--sigh--and, at one cringe-worthy point, a reference to Meb being the man who could "make America fast again."
But it turns out the Bob Larsen angle is what I needed. Once past the 2004 Olympic preface, I found myself caught up in Futterman's enthusiastic story of Larsen's early years as a coach when he assembled a motley group of unknowns and turned them into national cross-country champs, a team called the Jamul Toads. As I read about their hard work and their underdog scrappiness, I found my enthusiasm for running rekindling itself. I'm getting older, have a lot going on in my non-running life, and (let's face it) was never really fast. But I don't have to be a past-tense runner. That's the best lesson from Meb's career as well. Many times everyone but Larsen and Meb himself gave up on Meb. The doubters were wrong every time.
Futterman states his organizing theme late in the book: "After the thrilling ascendance of youth, life and running become a series of episodes, of ups and downs, falls and rises. Really, all that matters is what we do next."
I, like Bob Larsen, believe in rising.
January 8, 2020
Very engrossing sports memoir about Bob Larsen, a running coach who came from, well, nowhere, and just decided he was passionate about coaching runners so he did it. He started out with a ragtag group of hippies in San Diego way back before running recreationally was a thing. He went on to coach track & field at UCLA, and the star American runners Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi.
This book shines in the way many good sports memoirs shine... you are on the edge of your seat reading it (even if you know what's going to happen). It's still like watching a thrilling playoff football game and I found it a total page-turner.
I'd previously read Kastor and Keflezighi's books about many of the same events (that involved them) and it was a weird but cool Rashomon effect.
This book shines in the way many good sports memoirs shine... you are on the edge of your seat reading it (even if you know what's going to happen). It's still like watching a thrilling playoff football game and I found it a total page-turner.
I'd previously read Kastor and Keflezighi's books about many of the same events (that involved them) and it was a weird but cool Rashomon effect.
February 15, 2022
The book is actually 2.5 stars but it was a struggle to get through it. Whenever I read a running book I want to feel inspired to run more, run better. This book did not do that.
The first half of the book was about highschool and college kids in cross country being coached by Bob Larsen. While I heard of him and knew he was an amazing coach, I just couldn't get in to it.
Then throughout the book there were random running stories of the author and some other random people. When the random stories happened I didn't understand how those related to Bob Larsen and it added to my disconnect.
Only until the end did I start becoming interested in the stories, hence the .5 star. Particularly the story of Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor.
The first half of the book was about highschool and college kids in cross country being coached by Bob Larsen. While I heard of him and knew he was an amazing coach, I just couldn't get in to it.
Then throughout the book there were random running stories of the author and some other random people. When the random stories happened I didn't understand how those related to Bob Larsen and it added to my disconnect.
Only until the end did I start becoming interested in the stories, hence the .5 star. Particularly the story of Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor.
July 12, 2019
A great read for current or past (me) runners. Sadly I didn't follow nor was even really aware of Bob Larsen the undaunted coach who believed American distance running could be improved through better training techniques. First Larsen finds a middle ground between two different traditions of training: long 100 mile weeks with little intensity or track work to avoid injury; and, in contrast, lots--and mean lots--of track work like 30 400s at a times. As in the title, Larsen moves his runners off the track and pushes them to run to the edge, lots of miles but many of them spent right below race pace. And it works as his make-shift team, The TOADS, crush the much better known and funded teams such as Nike.
Also, very interesting to see Larsen push back on the genetic argument to explain the Kenyan and Ethiopian domination in long-distance events. Larsen helped the running community understand the importance of training at altitude and training much harder to match the East Africans. Yet one can't, and which isn't highlighted in Futterman's book, that Larsen's top American runner, Meb Keflezighi, was an immigrant from...East Africa.
Also, very interesting to see Larsen push back on the genetic argument to explain the Kenyan and Ethiopian domination in long-distance events. Larsen helped the running community understand the importance of training at altitude and training much harder to match the East Africans. Yet one can't, and which isn't highlighted in Futterman's book, that Larsen's top American runner, Meb Keflezighi, was an immigrant from...East Africa.
February 15, 2020
Even tho I love running this book was hard to read. The way it was structured n the many characters (and stories) it involved made it almost impossible to read with full enjoyment.
The author should have kept the story to Bob Larsen and the Jamul Toads. This part (of the book) was somewhat entertaining.
Can not recommend to anyone unless you are a die hard running fan.
The author should have kept the story to Bob Larsen and the Jamul Toads. This part (of the book) was somewhat entertaining.
Can not recommend to anyone unless you are a die hard running fan.
March 4, 2024
What a fun book about running. Bob Larsen's story is filled with enthusiasm and encouragement about running. It was great to see his love for the sport taught me to run to the edge and never look back. The book spoke about the Balboa 8 mile run which I have run a few times. I want to sign up for it again after reading this book.
March 12, 2021
Part spiritual guide, part training guide, part historical retelling this book helped to tell the tale of Bob Larsen who helped restart American distance running. This book has so many golden nuggets that runners will love.
Read
January 11, 2021I would recommend this book to any runner. It can help with your perspective on running. I rate this book a 8/10.
July 8, 2024
i love running books
August 19, 2025
Did I just get fast?
May 14, 2020
Enjoyed this and learned a lot but could have done without the first person Futterman scattered throughout - didn’t really work for me. Regardless, still giving 4 stars because if you take away those vignettes this was a very enjoyable read. Love sports writing where, even when you know the outcome, the buildup to the finish has you second-guessing.
July 30, 2019
An amazing story for runners and non-runners. Uplifting, educating, and inspiring. I loved this book from start to finish.
June 27, 2019
This book has it all, and it deserves to be made into a docuseries or a movie: Netflix, get on it! I'm so tired of people asking me if I've seen the "Barkleys Marathon Documentary" already?!? Anyways...
The scene is the nascent U.S. running culture, starring Coach Bob Larsen and his crew of rag-tag running renegades. This was a time when running was simpler: when swoosh-laden, ultra-light, hyper reverse-osmosis energy efficient space-age soles with A.I. enabled moisture evaporating carbon-fiber laced uppers, were a thing marketing cronie$ had not yet dreamed of. A time when vigorous exercise past the age of thirty was believed to bring on infertility and early death, and when East Africa had not yet quite entered into the picture. Ah yes, and there was hardly any money to be made off of it.
The action unfolds across several decades, as Coach Larsen dials in the right doses of speed, pain, grit, and altitude in his quest to elevate US runners into the record books, and ultimately, international glory. I'm pretty sure these chapters will elevate your heart rate too.
But there's plenty of drama in there as well, as we see the likes of the Jamul Toads, Deena Kastor, and Meb Keflezighi battle to find the purest spark that will ignite running greatness; some will burn hot and quickly fade into wisps of regional glory, while others will smolder quietly and refuse to go out. I'm talking to you Meb!
Then there's the humanity of it all. Coach Larsen wasn't chasing millions or cushy positions at prestigious universities, though he had the chance. He was interested in the sport because he saw the simple beauty of it, and damn it if he wasn't going to try and educate everyone! And alongside him, his lovely wife Sue Larsen, always with the lemonade for her husband's runners.
As for the narrative itself, Futterman manages to find a voice that isn't intrusive, with just a few incursions here and there to help us frame the entire thing through the eyes of a mortal. In essence, a book for runners by a runner.
Highest recommendation.
The scene is the nascent U.S. running culture, starring Coach Bob Larsen and his crew of rag-tag running renegades. This was a time when running was simpler: when swoosh-laden, ultra-light, hyper reverse-osmosis energy efficient space-age soles with A.I. enabled moisture evaporating carbon-fiber laced uppers, were a thing marketing cronie$ had not yet dreamed of. A time when vigorous exercise past the age of thirty was believed to bring on infertility and early death, and when East Africa had not yet quite entered into the picture. Ah yes, and there was hardly any money to be made off of it.
The action unfolds across several decades, as Coach Larsen dials in the right doses of speed, pain, grit, and altitude in his quest to elevate US runners into the record books, and ultimately, international glory. I'm pretty sure these chapters will elevate your heart rate too.
But there's plenty of drama in there as well, as we see the likes of the Jamul Toads, Deena Kastor, and Meb Keflezighi battle to find the purest spark that will ignite running greatness; some will burn hot and quickly fade into wisps of regional glory, while others will smolder quietly and refuse to go out. I'm talking to you Meb!
Then there's the humanity of it all. Coach Larsen wasn't chasing millions or cushy positions at prestigious universities, though he had the chance. He was interested in the sport because he saw the simple beauty of it, and damn it if he wasn't going to try and educate everyone! And alongside him, his lovely wife Sue Larsen, always with the lemonade for her husband's runners.
As for the narrative itself, Futterman manages to find a voice that isn't intrusive, with just a few incursions here and there to help us frame the entire thing through the eyes of a mortal. In essence, a book for runners by a runner.
Highest recommendation.
July 20, 2019
All I can say is if you like to read about running, you will live this book.
July 18, 2019
Fantastic Book.
July 14, 2019
Wonderful, wonderful... wonderful! If you are a runner or are just interested in running you should read this book. It is beautifully written, very engaging, and wildly informative. Highly recommended.
December 29, 2019
A Runner’s World-esque feel-good piece that was about 100 pages longer than necessary. Bob Larsen comes across a great coach, but this book comes across as average. Try Kenny Moore’s Bowerman and the Men of Oregon for a more elite look at high level athletes and their coaches.
November 20, 2019
This would have been twice as good if it was half as long. The first half of the book was engaging and fun, a great underdog story intertwined with the emerging science of distance running. Futterman loses track by incorporating himself into the narrative (qualifying for Boston, while a great personal achievement, is totally irrelevant to Bob Larsen’s story) and writing a rushed second half all about Meb. Overly romanticized at times, Futterman does little to highlight how much it hurts to be an elite distance runner and the incredible sacrifices these athletes make to become elite. Read the first half and read the Wikipedia article for Meb Keflezighi instead of the second.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews