Passion for Distance
category: "other", author:Julia Thorn
original copyright 2011
read in December 2011
Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10
If you are not interested in marathons -- this book is still interesting. It's light and easy to read. There is no pressure to get the reader to follow the author into running around the world. It's just a series of linked anecdotes, backed by some explanation of why the author would run so many marathons...
And the answer is...
Why not?!
Some people collect stamps. Some people go bushwalking. Some people run marathons. Some day I may write a book called, "Our 100 Rogaines".
Julia Thorn presents her achievement -- and the steps on the way -- as just something that she did. Interesting, challenging, more varied than you would expect. No sense of a life-long desire to do something both difficult and memorable... Running 100 marathons is just something that she has done.
I do like the way that Thorn approaches her races. She is not out to win at all costs... She is there to take part.
An early target was to run a marathon in each Australian state. Later, she wanted to set a personal best of three and a half hours. That's a good time but nowhere near Olympic standard. Having achieved that standard -- she stopped.
Not stopped running, but stopped trying to go fast. Thorn is happy to compete. She is not driven to win. This is a good example for anyone, in any sport: take part, enjoy.
That said, her training and approach to running are far more dedicated than my own! Thorn casually refers to taking part in several ultra-marathons; some day I would like to just survive an ordinary marathon. She doesn't train too hard, just a few runs a week an five minutes per kilometer. That rate is, for me, just a (so far) impossible dream.
The book makes you believe that it is possible to move beyond our sedentary limits. The training, the participation, the effort are all described as requiring just a little bit of dedication. Scale the target to your own level -- and you can do it!
My own target is to enter and complete just one marathon. Passion for Distance makes me think that it may be possible. It also makes me think -- reading between the lines -- that it will be difficult -- for me.
Not so much an inspirational book... More a book that celebrates what one woman has done. And that gives the reader an idea of what is possible -- if it's what you want to do.
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