Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Long Run:
Much easier to read this than actually run.
Quick synopsis:
The story of the marathon and the worldwide running boom.
Fact for Non-History People:
The marathon distance wasn’t officially standardized at 26.2 miles until 1921. It was very complicated before that.
Fact for History Nerds:
The fastest official marathon is Sabastian Sawe with a time of 1:59:30.
My Take on The Long Run:
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 for 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.)
Verdict:
Fun even for the non-runner. Buy it here!
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