Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth

As a participant and viewer in this story (not an adv racer, but a photographer) I thoroughly enjoyed the book- Marty is a great writer, and only after many years and many successful books can people see his talent. This was a great time in our lifes, traveling to exotic places and covering these amazing adventure races. You want to read a book by an American writer who covered Adventure Racing from the start? Read this one - he's my Krakauer of adv. racing.

I just want to say that I think this is a great book. I like to adventure race and I probably wouldn't have hear of this book if it wasn't for Survivor. I'm glad I did. It was uplifting, motivating, and about far more than just adventure racing. I was interested to find out Dugard and Mark Burnett had such a long history together, which is catalogued in the book. It's like the Survivor story actually begins with this book, with the show as the next generation of outdoor survival.

I've done a few Raids and Eco's. I know what it's like to compete and finish, and to compete and fail. This book captures both sentiments. The feeling is raw and pure and I felt like I was back in it. Excellent, exciting.

This was a book I looked at several times before I bought it, but I am glad I finally did. I think its an excellent description of adventure racing, and Dugard's description of his own attempts to form a team point out some serious considerations for anyone else thinking about it. The ability of a group of people to work together in pursuit of a common goal is going to be compromised when faced with conditions like those in adventure racing. Fear, exhaustion, uncertainty, hunger, stress...All of those things serve to magnify the little differences of opinion that might otherwise never be remarked upon. Dugard does a great job of being honest and open with what happens with his, and others', teams. Dugard's writing left me with the overall feeling that you didn't have to be superhuman to finish an even like the Raid, or the Eco-challenge. All you have to be is dedicated. And maybe a little lucky.

A friend gave me this book just 2 weeks after we had completed our first adventure race and I quickly blew through it. It was a real joy to read. Dugard takes the reader along for the ride and attempts to give some insite to, not only the races, but why someone would actually want to attempt one, and how the race dominates the participant's life.Assuming the reader is interested in the sport, the information contained within is tremendously valuable, because the vantage point is not that of a Discovery Channel commentator or a Race Spokesman, but a participant, slogging through the ordeal.