Having worked as a reporter and as a current freelance writer, I’ve always enjoyed books written by fellow reporters.
This was one of the things that drew me to Tom Foreman’s “My Year of Running Dangerously: A Dad, A Daughter and A Ridiculous Plan.”
I’d been eyeing the book for a while, put it on a gift wish list and received it as a Secret Santa gift from a fellow Eastern Shore Running Club member last year. Then, we decided to read this book for the BibRave Pro book club.
I don’t get to read as often as I’d like, so although it took me a little while, I enjoyed reading this book. I finished it a couple months ago during my trip to the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
And then it’s also taken me a while to get around to writing this post, but today seems to be an appropriate day, since the Stone Mill 50 Mile Run, which Foreman describes training for and running, happened today, Nov. 17.
I liked the informal yet well-written way that Foreman, a correspondent for CNN, told his story. His writing about his training and races also includes his own thoughts, humor, dialogue and general information. There are also 26.2 chapters, which I certainly appreciate as a self-proclaimed “runnerd.”
In the first part of the book, Foreman writes about training for a marathon that he would run with his daughter, Ronnie — the Publix Georgia Marathon. Before reading this book, I had not realized that Atlanta was so hilly, but apparently, it is! I’ve been to Georgia before, but I have not been to Atlanta.
He then writes about training for the Stone Mill 50 Mile Run, which includes other races, like the Marine Corps Marathon, along the way.
I like the marathon distance, but I still can’t wrap my mind around running (and for me, it would certainly involve some walking) 50 miles at once. It certainly sounds difficult from Foreman’s account — and he had a scare with a tougher-than-expected run not long before the race on the course, too.
When I was reading the book, I wondered if I had run part of this trail, so I just consulted my prior blog post about running on the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail. If I’m interpreting the Stone Mill 50 Mile Run map correctly, I think I did run part of the course without even knowing about the race — on a different day than race day, of course. I recapped my run on the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail here.
Here’s a short excerpt from that post:
I quickly realized this was going to be a slow run. There were plenty of hills to climb up, and the terrain certainly made me slower, too. I tripped and fell twice — both times in the first four miles — which I’ve learned is kind of just a part of technical trail running. There were no injuries, just a lot of dirt.
Even on a day when I ran 14 miles — not even close to 50 — it was a tough one. However, I’d like to go back to the trail. It was a good run.
However, I don’t plan to return for all 50 miles. I would recommend the book, though!
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