Running from Zombies

I bought this book shortly after I had finished reading Born to Run, but hadn’t got round to reading it until recently…and then finished it in a matter of days.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and it didn’t quite flow as I hoped it might, but it was still a great read. To me it felt like 6 exceptionally in-depth race reports (25% of the book is spent talking through his first Western States 100) with a few pages of rest-of-his-life information in between. Obviously the book is about running but I think it would have been more well-rounded if there had been a bit more information about what else he had done. Except for the death of his sister, which was obviously a major point in his life and had a direct influence on his running, there is little talk of the rest of his home life – whether it be sporting, family or career. A good example is the first mention of windsurfing as a hobby:

“…but I channeled most of my focus into windsurfing, winning some competitions and ending up on the cover of several magazines. I even managed to land a few sponsorshop endorsements, which helped pay the tuition bills.”

Now, to me, getting on the front of a magazine for windsurfing would warrant more than 2 sentences. The book would have been a lot longer, but at least then Karnazes wouldn’t come across like a running machine that does little else than put one foot in front of the other.

Ultramarathon Man

Not knowing how he feels the day after the race doesn’t really make the distances that he runs any less amazing. The mile by mile description of the first Western States is detailed, fascinating and inspiring. It almost makes you think “well if he can run that far then so can I” but then you remember that he ran 30 miles on his first ever training run (15 years after his last cross country race) and that it takes someone slightly different to be able to do that.

In the end, the sheer distances become incomprehensible. If someone said to me that they had run 10 miles then I would understand, as it’s a distance I’ve done myself. If someone said they’d finished 26.2 then I’d understand (and then congratulate them!) as it’s a well known and challenging distance. If someone said they’d run 199 miles without stopping then it becomes harder to fully comprehend exactly what that means. I think it’s probably something only another ultra runner would get.

Karnazes book (and his life) is an amazing testament to what the human body can do when pushed to it’s limits. It’s inspiring and motivating, and the stories from Badwater and the South Pole Marathon will make you appreciate the mild weather you live in :-)