Best Efforts

by Kenny Moore

Champion runner Kenny Moore describes his racing experiences and profiles famous coaches and runners, such as Roger Bannister, Grete Waitz, and Sebastian Coe

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Brian Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best running books I have read. Moore is just a great writer, which is hard to come by in the running world. Highly recommend!

[Joshua Coon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe I hadn’t read this, a classic. The way Moore writes each essay, it’s like you’re present, a fly on the wall to some of the most historic distance training and racing events.

[J.Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Efforts is a very up-close look into the lives, training, and races of many of the greatest middle-distance and distance runners in history. Through personal visits, Kenny Moore gives us insight into the day to day routine of more than a dozen greats like Roger Bannister, Lasse Viren, Steve Prefontaine, Sebastian Coe, and many others. It also includes interesting details of some of Moore's own experiences in racing/marathons.

Although I enjoyed his Bowerman biography even more (one of my favorite books of all time), this book takes a special place on my bookshelf (and I have a signed copy from the author) with other running books like Pre, Born to Run, Bowerman, and Once a Runner.

Track enthusiasts, runners, and sports history buffs will all enjoy this book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kind of running journalism doesn't exist anymore. Taking advantage of the running boom, Kenny Moore wrote a series of in-depth profiles of elite distance runners. What makes these stories great are that Moore writes from the perspective of a runner: he knows what it takes to be the best (he was 4th in the 1972 Olympic Marathon), so he's appreciative, but knowledgable. Great read for a runner. I wonder if non-runners could enjoy it as well?

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I discovered running it was the greatest thing I had stumbled into since I had started reading. And then I discovered that Kenny Moore actually wrote about running. Sweet.

[Casey Manos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Up there with The Men of Oregon for an insight into a previous generation of racers. Appreciated the many chapters on different athletes and got a lot of value out of it. Kenny Moore had a gift