The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner : An Unfit Londoner's Attempt to Run the New York City Marathon from Scratch

by Russell Taylor

Book Overview

Out-of-shape and hammered more often than not, Russell Taylor, nearing 40, begins training for the NYC marathon as something of a midlife crisis. His journey from the treadmill in North London to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0233050817
• ISBN13: 9780233050812
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Andre Deutsch
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Very British humor but observations apply to US runners too

Taylor is a professional British comic writer, which shows: the book's well written, funny, and British. British in a P. G. Wodehouse, not a ribald way. Much of the humor derives from his observations of runners' everyday peculiarities, most of which may be seen in the new world as well. The book is also a bit sad, because (I think) Taylor tried to overcome middle aged unfitness too quickly - to run the NY Marathon - and paid a price. The price was all post-NY so I'll not reveal details. But check his 1/2 marathon time and his NY time: the former predicts over 20 minutes better than he ran in NY. Check also his training heart rates: too high. It's fair to assume he ran the marathon before he was ready. But as he writes the "marathon"'s a unique brand; who'd want to read about his travails trying to run merely 13.1 miles?

On the nose

Taylor captures the realities of starting a running program beautifully and with LOL humor. If you're a runner, don't miss this.