THE MARATHON: The Runners and the Race

"The Marathon: The Runners and The Race" highlights the excellent racers up until the mid-1980s. Its charm is not in how up to date it is -- it isn't -- but in the way it captures the personality of major names in marathoning. Waitz, Beardsley, Zatopek, Shorter and Bikila are all profiled, complete with photos from their glory days. The struggle of the distance is described in both word and picture. Grete Waitz, the great Norwegian runner, shows strength at the finish line, while Abebe Bikila, the bare-footed Ethiopian who won the 1960 Rome Olympic Marathon, is seen focused. There are 13 runners in all, separated into chapters by name. Each profile provides a history of marathoning, and talks about the context that runner raced in. For Spirodon Louis (he won the first Olympic marathon in 1986), we learn about Pheidippides, the first marathoner. It was Pheidippides who delivered news of a Greek war victory in 490 BC, running from Marathon to Athens. I fully recommend this book to any young runner who wants to get an overview of the individuals within the grand mass of runners. It is inspiring and fun. Anthony Trendl editor, HungarianBookstore.com