The start of the Year 2014
brought fresh cheers for me as I got a surprise package from my blogger-friend
Wandering Jouster last week.
Inside was
a nice-looking gray Under Armour shirt.
More importantly, a running book that I have been eyeing to have for
quite some time came with it.
The book is “Going Long” and it
is “an anthology of 30 unforgettable stories that explore what it means not
only to be a runner, but to be human.” Edited by David Wiley, the book
contains the best stories from Runner’s World with contributions coming from 1968 Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot,
Munich Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore, Born to Run author Christopher
McDougall, and 14 more exemplary writers.
A good running book is soul food
for the runner in me and anthology of this calibre is akin to an eat-all-you-can
lunch buffet in Spiral at Sofitel. Busog to the max. A sample of the excellent readings I have
consumed from this book are the following:
1. “Duel In the Sun” by John Brant talks about the most
thrilling Boston Marathon ever run. In
April 19, 1982, the most electrifying runner of his generation (Alberto
Salazar) and a humble farm boy from Minnesota (Dick Beardsley) battled stride
for stride for more than two hours (2 hrs & 9 mins to be exact). Rare it is
to have a wire-to-wire battle in a 42-km long sporting event.
2. “The Power And The Glory” by Michael Perry and “Pure
Heart” by Burfoot deal with the stories of two Ryans - - - Ryan Hall and Ryan
Shay, respectively. Both Ryan’s awoke on
November 3, 2007 hoping to fulfill their Olympic
dreams. They were both running at
the U.S. men’s Olympic Marathon Trials, the quadrennial event that would
produce America’s team for 2008 Beijing Olympics. The two are good friends (Hall was a Stanford
teammate of Shay’s wife and Hall’s wife was the bridesmaid at the Shays’
wedding) and had a short jog together at the Trial’s venue in Central Park New
York the Friday before. At the end of
that fateful day, Hall would win in
2:09:02, breaking the Olympic Trials record set in 1980, and at age 25,
became the 2nd youngest trials winner in history (after Frank Shorter who won
at age 24 in 1972). The other Hall, Shay
would be dead at age 28, having collapsed past the five-mile mark.
3. At age 4, finished already 48 marathons. This was after
being sold before the age of 1 by the mother to a passing peddler for the price of 800 rupees.
Such is the extraordinary story of Budhia Sing which is chronicled in the “Wonder Boy” by Bill Donahue. Born in 2002 to a very poor family in the
Indian state of Orissa, Budhia came into the limelight when he ran a record 65
kms from Puri to Bhubaneswar in the sizzling heat of May 2006 in just 7 hours
and 2 minutes. He was immediately dubbed a marathon prodigy and was also seen
as medal prospect in future Olympics.
Such extraordinary feats worthy of a Bollywood movie extravaganza. But
is it?
4. No such ambiguity in the story of an amputee
teenager who captivated the heart and
soul of a huge country and “Following
Terry Fox” by John Brant is an account of the attempt of the author to retrace
the thousands miles route taken by
Canada’s most-loved athletic figure. In March 1977, Fox, a cross-country runner
at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia was diagnosed with bone cancer,
and his right leg was amputated six inches above his knee. He came up with the
idea to raise money for cancer research by running across Canada (5,000
miles+), with the goal of raising $ 1 Million.
On April 1980, the “Marathon of Hope” started at St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada’s
easternmost point with Fox dipping his prosthetic leg in the Atlantic Ocean and
beginning his run toward Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific Coast. Fox health began
to deteriorate as he passed the halfway mark of his run. On
September 1980, he was hospitalized and doctor
discovered that the cancer had spread from his legs to his lungs. Fox had run 3,339 miles in 143 days, about
23.3 miles a day. He raised more than $ 11 Million for cancer research in 6
months. In February 1981, donations hits $ 24 Million. On June 28, 1981, Fox died at the age of 22.
The Terry Fox Run, held annually every September in Canada, has raised more
than $ 400 Million for cancer research. Other Terry Fox Runs are held in more
than 50 countries. Any Terry Fox Run in
the Philippines?
25 more stories to nibble
at. Masiramon asin bastante. In this present world of twitter and short
attention span, we take the contrarian approach, and hunger for stories that are long (8,000 or 9,000 words)
and deep, transcending running as mere sport in some way, and connecting it to larger themes such as
fame, faith, family, and even life and death.
We want stories that move and
inspire.
Tugot....
1 comment:
i'm glad you liked the simple presents. seriously, it took me LONG to finally settle on that book. hehe.
thank you for giving us a "sneak peek" of these inspiring stories.
continue enjoying GL, vicboy.
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