The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread about Running. This thread has as its focus all sorts of running events or types: marathons, triathlons, ultra marathons, cross country, 5K, 10K, etc. And any other running or sporting events related to running that you can think of.

This is a great book:

Neal Bascomb

Publisher's Weekly:
The attempt by three men in the 1950s to become the first to run the mile in less than four minutes is a classic 20th-century sports story. Bascomb's excellent account captures all of the human drama and competitive excitement of this legendary racing event. It helps that the story and its characters are so engaging to begin with. The three rivals span the globe: England's Roger Bannister, who combines the rigors of athletic training with the "grueling life of a medical student"; Australia's John Landy, "driven by a demand to push himself to the limit"; and Wes Santee from the U.S., a brilliant strategic runner who became the "victim" of the "[h]ypocrisy and unchecked power" of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Although Bannister broke the record before Landy, Landy soon broke Bannister's record, and the climax of the book is a long and superb account of the race between the two men at the Empire Games in Vancouver on August 7, 1954. Bascomb provides the essential details of this "Dream Race"â€"which was heard over the radio by 100 million peopleâ€"while Santee, who may have been able to beat both of them, was forced by AAU restrictions to participate only as a broadcast announcer. Bascomb definitively shows how this perfect race not only was a "defining moment in the history of the mileâ€"and of sport as well," but also how it reveals "a sporting world in transition" from amateurism to professionalism.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

Another one:
The Longest Race: A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance
by Ed Ayres
Synopsis
Among endurance runners, there are thosewho have run very long distances, and thenthere are those who have run very long distancesfor a very long time. Ed Ayres exemplifies the latter; having run in over 600 races acrossfifty-five years, he is arguably the most experiencedAmerican distance runner still competingtoday. A book no one else could have written, "The Longest Race" is his urgent exploration of theconnection between individual endurance anda sustainable society.

"The Longest Race" begins at the starting lineof the 2001 JFK 50 Mile the nation s oldestand largest ultramarathon and, like other suchraces, an epic test of human limits and aspiration.At age sixty, his sights set on breaking theage-division record, Ayres embarks on a courseover the rocky ridge of the Appalachian Trail, along the headwind-buffeted towpath of thePotomac River, and past momentous Civil Warsites such as Harpers Ferry and Antietam.

But even as Ayres focuses on concerns familiarto every endurance runner starting strongand setting the right pace, the art of breathing, overcoming fatigue, mindfulness for the courseahead he finds himself as preoccupied withthe future of our planet as with the finish line ofthis 50-mile race.

A veteran journalist and environmentaleditor who harbors deep anxiety about our longtermprospects, Ayres helps us to understandhow the skills and mindset necessary to completean ultramarathon are also essential for grapplinganew with the imperative to "endure" not only asindividuals, but as a society and not just for 50miles, but in the longest race we are all calledupon to run.

Paavo Nurmi, The Flying Finn

This Finnish runner brought attention to the Olympic sport of long distance running. I could not find a book about him but this biography of him from Wikipedia is worth reading.

Paavo Johannes Nurmi (13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle and long distance runner. He was nicknamed as the "Flying Finn" as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1,500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won a total of nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated at distances from 800 m upwards for 121 races. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m.

Born into a worker family, Nurmi left school at the age of 12 to provide for his family. In 1912, he was inspired by the Olympic feats of Hannes Kolehmainen and began developing a strict training program. Nurmi started to flourish during his military service, setting national records en route to his international debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics. After a silver medal in the 5,000 m, he took gold in the 10,000 m and the cross country events. In 1923, Nurmi became the first, and so far only, runner to hold the mile, the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m world records at the same time. He went on to set new world records for the 1,500 m and the 5,000 m with just an hour between the races, and take gold medals in the distances in less than two hours at the 1924 Olympics. Seemingly untouched by the Paris heat wave, Nurmi won all his races and returned home with five gold medals, but embittered, as Finnish officials had refused to enter him for the 10,000 m.

Struggling with injuries and motivational issues after his exhaustive U.S. tour in 1925, Nurmi found his long-time rivals Ville Ritola and Edvin Wide ever more serious challengers. At the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nurmi recaptured the 10,000 m title but was beaten to the gold in the 5,000 m and the 3,000 m steeplechase. He then turned his attention to longer distances, breaking the world records for events such as the one hour run and the 25-mile marathon. Nurmi intended to end his career on a marathon gold medal, as his idol Kolehmainen had done. In a controversial case that strained Finland–Sweden relations and sparked an inter-IAAF battle, Nurmi was suspended before the 1932 Games by an IAAF council that questioned his amateur status. Two days before the opening ceremonies, the council rejected his entries. Although he was never declared a professional, Nurmi's suspension became definite in 1934 and he retired from running.

Nurmi later coached Finnish runners, raised funds for Finland during the Winter War, and worked as a haberdasher, building contractor and share trader, eventually becoming one of Finland's richest people. In 1952, he was the lighter of the Olympic Flame at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Nurmi's speed and elusive personality spawned nicknames such as the "Phantom Finn", while his achievements, training methods and running style influenced future generations of middle and long distance runners. Nurmi, who rarely ran without a stopwatch in his hand, has been credited for introducing the "even pace" strategy and analytic approach to running, and for making running a major international sport. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paavo_Nurmi)

They said that no man could ever run the mile in under four minutes. This is the story of the man who first did it and became a British hero and sports icon.

Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile

by John Bale (no photo)

Synopsis:

Roger Bannister was the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. Fifty years on, his status, not just as a champion athlete but also as a true British hero, a gentleman and an amateur from a 'golden era' in sport, retains its unblemished appeal.

Until now there has been little criticism and even less close historical study of Bannister and his achievement. This book redresses the balance, presenting a revisionist history of Sir Roger Bannister and in doing so providing fresh insights into the making of this British 'champion'.

This book does more than detail the history of a sporting giant. It invites the reader to reconsider the very words often used to describe him - notably 'hero' and 'gentleman amateur'. Informed by contemporary sport science, the text also questions the significance of the four-minute mile.

Providing fascinating insights into the history of track racing as well as athletic training methods and the beginnings of sport science, this is not just a testimonial to the legend of Roger Bannister, but instead is the first rigorous historical study of his sporting life and the man behind the legend. It reveals him as an ambivalent athlete, highly achievement-orientated and scientific, but also in love with the freedom of running sensuously in nature, in contrast to the constraints of modern sport.

This is the race that started it all.

Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze

by David Davis(no photo)

Synopsis:

The epic clash of an Irish-American, Italian, and Onondaga-Canadian that jump-started the first marathon mania and heralded the modern age in sports

The eyes of the world watched as three runners—dirt poor Johnny Hayes, who used to run barefoot through the streets of New York City; candymaker Dorando Pietri; and the famed Tom Longboat—converged for an epic battle at the 1908 London Olympics. The incredible finish was contested the world over when Pietri, who initially ran the wrong way upon entering the stadium at Shepherd’s Bush, finished first but was disqualified for receiving aid from officials after collapsing just shy of the finish line, thus giving the title to runner-up Hayes. In the midst of anti-American sentiment, Queen Alexandra awarded a special cup to Pietri, who became an international celebrity and inspired one of Irving Berlin’s first songs. In Showdown at Shepherd's Bush, David Davis recalls a time when runners braved injurious roads with slips of leather for shoes and when marathon mania became a worldwide obsession. Standing next to Cait Murphy’s Crazy ’08 as an invaluable look at a bygone sporting era, Showdown at Shepherd's Bush is a dramatic narrative aimed at the recordsetting number of marathon participants in the United States (more than 500,000 in 2010!) and other running enthusiasts, and timed nicely for the return of the Olympics to London in 2012.

Great adds Jill

One of the great tragedies in the sport of running.

The Death of Jim Fixx

by Hal Higdon

Synopsis:

On July 20, 1984, only a few days before the start of the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, James Fuller Fixx, author of The Complete Book of Running went for a run over his familiar workout distance: 10 miles. Fixx’s book had been a huge best-seller, selling more than a million hard-cover copies, arguably creating the first running boom. If Fixx did not create the boom with that book and a second best-seller, The Second Book of Running, he certainly served as mid-wife.

An hour or so later, a motorcyclist found him lying dead by the side of the road.

The death of Jim Fixx both shocked and horrified the running community. He was their role model. Once overweight, a smoker, a man in a high-pressure New York job, his family history included a father who suffered a heart attack at age 35 and died at age 43. Thus, Jim Fixx resembled in so many ways those who took up running after buying his best-selling book. He was the prophet who would lead these new runners to the Promised Land. His death at the age of 52 was an embarrassment. Suddenly all their non-running friends questioned their obsession. Why had Jim Fixx died?

NYC Marathon this morning. My nephew is running in it.

Good for him.....I hope he does well, Glynn.

As a runner, I am thrilled to see this thread. I ran my first marathon in 2010 and since then I have run Boston in 2012, 2014, and 2015 and New York City in 2011 in addition to various others small and big. I would have to say no marathon captured my heart quite like Boston, I adored the history of it and perhaps it is because I worked so hard to be there all of those times I qualified.

I would like to add some books as recommendations:
Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon.
by John Brant
Synopsis from Goodreads:
John Brant re-creates the tense drama of the 1982 Boston Marathon—and the powerful forces of fate that drove these two athletes in the years afterwards
"One was a humble farm boy from Minnesota. The other was the most electrifying distance runner of his time. In 1982, they battled stride for stride for more than two hours in the most thrilling Boston Maraton ever run. Then the drama really began. . . ." Thus John Brant sets the stage for the epic race that took place 23 years ago between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley. Since Beardsley was only 26 and Salazar 23 at the time, everyone assumed that this would be the start of a long and glorious rivalry.

Instead Beardsley soon began a descent into drug addiction that brought him perilously close to dying. Salazar's decline was more gradual, his vigor slowly giving way to baffling symptoms that left him completely exhausted. Brant's portraits of the painkiller-addicted Beardsley and the depression-plagued Salazar are at once sensitive and hair-raising. The supporting characters are also richly drawn, from Alberto's father, Jose Salazar, a towering presence with a fascinating history and a former close friend of Fidel Castro, to Bill Squires, Beardsley's coach, a Casey Stengel–like figure whose oddball goofiness masks an encyclopedic knowledge of distance running. This elegantly written story is riveting nonfiction at its very best.

by John L. Parker
Jr. (This is fiction but is a wonderful book)

A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New York

by Liz Robbins

Synopsis:

When 39,195 competitors thunder over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to begin the thirty-eighth running of the famed New York City Marathon, they experience one of the most exhilarating moments in sports. But as they cross five towering bridges and five distinct boroughs, carried 26.2 miles by the cheers of two million fans and by their own indomitable wills, grueling challenges await them.

New York Times sportswriter Liz Robbins brings race day to life in this gripping saga of the 2007 Marathon, weaving the unforgettable stories of runners into a vibrant mile-by-mile portrait of the world's largest marathon.

The professionals pound out the suspense in two thrilling races. Paula Radcliffe, the women's world record holder from Great Britain, returns with new resolve after having given birth nine months earlier; Gete Wami, her longtime rival from Ethiopia, tries to win her second marathon in just five weeks; and Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka desperately hopes for her third straight New York title.

If the women's race plays out like a mesmerizing chess game, then the men's race quickly turns into a high-speed car chase. South Africa's Hendrick Ramaala, eager to recapture glory at age 35, surges to lead the pack as Kenya's Martin Lel and Morocco's Abderrahim Goumri stay within striking range.

While the professionals offer insight into the intense, often painful experience of being an elite athlete, the amateurs provide timeless stories of courage and obsession that typify today's marathoner: Harrie Bakst, a cancer survivor at 22, who is a first-timer; Pam Rickard, a 45-year-old mother of three from Virginia, who is a recovering alcoholic; and 65-year-old Tucker Andersen, who has run the race every year since 1976.

Enlivening the history of the New York City Marathon with stories of such legends as the late Fred Lebow, the race's charismatic founder, and nine-time champion Grete Waitz, A Race Like No Other provides a curbside seat to the drama of the first Sunday in November. Feel the anxiety at the start in Staten Island. Listen to gospel choirs in Brooklyn and the accordion in Queens. Bask in the delirious sound tunnel of Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hit The Wall in the Bronx. And overcome agony in the last hilly miles before arriving in Central Park—exhausted yet exhilarated—at the finish line.

The Boston Marathon: A Century of Blood, Sweat, and Cheers

by Tom Derderian

Synopsis: The first-ever Boston Athletic Association Marathon took place on a Monday morning, April 19, 1897. The 18 runners in the field had ridden the 9:12 Boston and Albany train from the Kneeland Street Station in Boston along with an entourage of BAA dignitaries, reporters, handlers on bicycles, a company of soldiers from the Second Infantry Regiment, and a first-aid team.Since then, a lot has changed, but the basic elements remain the same . . . The course is 26.2 miles long and begins in Hopkinton and ends in front of the Prudential Center of Boston. Runners from all over the world now come to Boston to run this marathon, which is considered the most prestigious running event in the world today. Some well-known winners include John Kelley, who won twice and continued to compete into his eighties. Following in his footsteps, "young" John Kelley (no relation to the old Kelley) was the first American to win in the post WWII era. "Tarzan" Brown won in 1938 and also took a quick swim in Lake Cochichuate. Bill Rodgers won three in a row, 1978, 1979, and 1980, while Rosa Mota of Portugal was the first woman to win three in a row.

Boston hosts the most prestigious and oldest marathon in the world. Annually 17,000 runners representing every state in the Union as well as 75 countries of the world compete. In The Boston Marathon: A Century of Blood, Sweat, and Cheers, you will experience the race unfolding before you, through the eyes of the runners and the people in the towns and cities along the route.

You are a true athlete, Lisa!!!

BTW, you almost have the citations down perfectly. Just remember if there is no photo of the author, add (no photo). They should look like this:

by John Brant (no photo)
by John L. Parker Jr. (no photo)
by Liz Robbins (no photo)
by Tom Derderian (no photo)

There were something like 3 biographies of the great Emil Zatopek that came out this past year. LetsRun.com reviewed them and basically said, They're all very different, but all worth reading. I know, this doesn't exactly narrow it down, does it? Either way, I definitely want to check some of them out.

The Grasshopper

by Bernard Suits (no photo)

Synopsis:

In the mid twentieth century the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously asserted that games are indefinable; there are no common threads that link them all.

"Nonsense," says the sensible Bernard Suits: "playing a game is a voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles."

The short book Suits wrote demonstrating precisely that is as playful as it is insightful, as stimulating as it is delightful. Suits not only argues that games can be meaningfully defined; he also suggests that playing games is a central part of the ideal of human existence, so games belong at the heart of any vision of Utopia.

Originally published in 1978, The Grasshopper is now re-issued with a new introduction by Thomas Hurka and with additional material (much of it previously unpublished) by the author, in which he expands on the ideas put forward in The Grasshopper and answers some questions that have been raised by critics.

Review:

Here is an excerpt from an interview on FiveBooks which discussed this book - Nigel Warburton interviews Philosophy professor and sports enthusiast - David Papineau.

"Now, let’s go to the first of your book choices, Bernard Suits’s The Grasshopper which, for a long time, was a very-little-known classic, and now it’s probably just a little-known classic.

My first choice is a book about the nature and value of sport. I wanted to look at this via Suits because his is probably the best-known full-length work in this area. It’s a wonderfully engaging, eccentric, ingenious book, which has a terrific idea in it, but I think it’s completely wrongheaded about the nature and value of sport.

So I’ll start by explaining the good idea, and then explain why I think it’s not as helpful for understanding sport as many of its enthusiasts suggest.

The book is a quasi-Socratic dialogue with the grasshopper as the main character, and the grasshopper’s idea is that the highest virtue is playing, that he is going to spend all his time playing, doesn’t care if he dies, and the overall argument of the book is that in utopia, where humans have all their material needs satisfied at the push of a button, what we would do would be play games, and therefore playing games is the ideal of human activity.

Freed from all the necessities of having to do things we don’t want to do in order to get the material means of life, we’d do nothing but play games. That’s the main thesis."

More:
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/davi...

Source: FiveBooks

Review:

Here is an excerpt from an interview on FiveBooks which discussed this book - Nigel Warburton interviews Philosophy professor and sports enthusiast - David Papineau.

"And at the heart of this, there is this apparent critique of Wittgenstein’s notion that you can’t define what a game is, give its essence, because ‘game’ is a family resemblance term. The alleged impossibility of defining the concept of a game was the main example Wittgenstein used to illustrate his notion of a family resemblance term.

"Suits does two things. He defines ‘games’ and, following on from that, he argues that the playing of games is the highest form of human activity.

But the first part of the book, as you say, is a head-on attempt to meet Wittgenstein’s challenge. Wittgenstein said the concept of a ‘game’ was indefinable: you can’t give a set of necessary and sufficient conditions that pick out all and only games, because games have nothing in common.

Rather, they have a set of overlapping similarities, like the resembling faces within someone’s family. Suits comes up with this very neat definition of ‘game’ to refute this. I won’t give you the long version: in the shorter version, he explains that a game is any voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.

So, his idea is that in a game there’s some aimed at end point, or target. With Snakes and Ladders it’s getting your counter onto the final ‘100’ square; in golf, it’s getting this little white ball into a hole; in a 100-metre sprint, it’s breasting the tape ahead of the others.

So there’s some target of the activity, and then, Suits says, what picks these activities out as games is that we put arbitrary restrictions on how to achieve that target: you have to do it by rolling a dice and going up the ladders and down the snakes; or you have to do it using golf clubs of a certain specification, and you can’t pick the ball up; and you have to get across the tape first by running, and not by shooting the others, or by getting on a motorbike or anything like that.

So there are arbitrary restrictions on how you’re allowed to achieve the end, and Suits says whenever you’ve got a game, you’ve got that setup, and anything that fits that setup counts as a game.

With a kind of awkwardness that I’ll come back to in a bit, he then spends the rest of the book with all kinds of strange fables and odd characters, defending the thesis that he’s produced a very neat set of necessary and sufficient conditions for something being a game, and I think he’s pretty close to achieving that.

He does a very good job of showing that not just standard games, but games like hide-and-seek, and role-playing games, and so on, all fit his definition, and that part is pretty convincing.

More:
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/davi...

Source: FiveBooks