Running from Zombies

Dean Karnazes follows up ‘Ultramarathon Man’ with an account of his 50/50 challenge – to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 US states.

50/50 - Dean Karnazes

The full title of the book is ’50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days – and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!’ which seems a little contradictory to some of the books’ content. Karnazes himself says how genes play a major role in the ability to run massive distances, and the science-y bit at the end backs it up. However, there is still an attempt to teach the reader something in the form of textbook style boxes. These cover anything from post-marathon tips to good marathons to run in order to qualify for Boston. Unfortunately, if you’re already a runner there isn’t a whole lot of new information here.

The rest of the book is pretty much what the title suggests. Karnazes has a plan to run in various states as part of a holiday with his family, an idea that seems to get hijacked by The North Face, who turn it into a roadshow/giant advert. It’s obviously more than that – not only an amazing feat for Karnazes but also an inspiration to the people he meets along the way (and a fundraiser for his charity). By the end, however, you do get the impression that he’d have rather just done it his way. The regimented schedule and constant PR is obviously not what he wants to do…supported by the fact that when he’s finished his last marathon he goes for a run on his own, without a map and a time limit.

The book itself is just an account of the 50 marathons, broken up every now and then with various thoughts and musings from the journey:

“Upon receiving this information, I found myself wondering why so many people like Kris are drawn to marathons and other such challenges these days. I can’t help thinking that the phenomenon is in part a largely unconscious backlash against comfort culture and the easy life. Heated seats and online shopping and robot vacuum cleaners have created a void that we’re all sensing. Our modern comforts and conveniences have accumulated to the point that they have stopped making us feel better and started making us feel worse. Some primal instinct lurking deep inside is trying to tell us that what is needed is a good, hard sweat – some struggle in our lives, some physical challenge.”

I must admit I didn’t really get on with this one as well as I did with Ultramarathon Man. Whether it was the book, the fact I was having trouble with my running as I was reading it, or a combination of the two, I found myself leaving it half way in order to read something else before coming back to it.