[ARETE] Karnazes, Runner's

[Duncan Jamieson]

All,
Please find below and attached William Steele's review of Dean Karnazes, *A
Runner's High.*
Thanks
Duncan

*Dean Karnazes. A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion. New York: Harper
Collins, 2021. 246 pp. Cloth, $27.99.*



Reviewed by William Steele, Ph.D., Professor of English, Lipscomb University



            In his 2006 book *Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an
All-Night Runner*, Dean Karnazes narrated what led him to become one of the
most accomplished endurance runners in the world, detailing the races he
ran on every continent, the countless hours he logged by himself, and the
ways he motivated himself by setting, what would seem to be for most
people, impossible goals.

            His subsequent books focused more on specific races or goals
he’d set and the lessons he’d learned from them. For example, *50/50:
Secrets I Learned from Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days* takes readers
through the journey of completing 26.2 miles of running, one marathon in
each state, for fifty consecutive days.

            In this latest book, *A Runner’s High: My Life in Motion*,
Karnazes shares with readers a side of elite athletics rarely discussed so
honestly: a career in decline and the accompanying emotions along the
journey. In fact, the book opens with a description of a runner in distress
rather than basking in the glow of another victory: “I’m laying catawampus
splayed ass-to-the-dirt in the trail—one leg tweaked improbably beneath
me—staring up at the afternoon sky seeing sparkles of light flickering
before me like circling fireflies and wondering what the hell just
happened” (p. 1).

Over the course of the next 23 chapters and conclusion, the runner known
globally as “Ultramarathon Man” details his training and mental preparation
for returning to the legendary Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, a
race that had been his first 100-miler back in 1994. Now, in his
mid-fifties, Karnazes’s interest in the race was rekindled. Though he would
not be contending for the win, his primary motivation was the DNF (Did Not
Finish) he had at the event in 2009, a race that, in his words, “thoroughly
kicked my ass.” The result was that he “wanted—needed—redemption” (19).

While Karnazes has often been criticized for his self-promotion, he turns
introspective in his latest book, detailing the similarities between his
Herculean efforts on the running trail and life in general. For example,
when describing the challenges of navigating the difficulties of running
uphill at high elevation, he says, “These are the moments I live for.
Perhaps no other sport holds a mirror to you the way running does. Running
exposes your inner self with unvarnished brutality. How do you respond when
the tide turns against you? What do you do when the going gets tough? It’s
been said that without war we do not know if we are cowards or heroes. The
runner knows this truth, for the runner has waged war” (p. 55).

Beyond just being a retelling of his return to Western States, Karnazes
reflects on his running career, providing an honest glimpse at the
challenges it presented him as a father, husband, and son while also
showing how it allowed him to adapt to and overcome these obstacles. And
though the primary event described is the Western States race, he does take
readers back to some of the earlier events for which he is best known.
Thankfully, he resists the urge to recycle the same stories from previous
books, instead providing fresh anecdotes for those who have followed his
career over the past three decades.

For those familiar with Karnazes’s career, this narrative provides a
different twist on what one might expect. Instead of training to be the
first to accomplish a goal (50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, for
example) or to win a major race, like he did with the Badwater
Ultramarathon in 2004, *A Runner’s High* presents readers with a runner who
is no longer the threat to win he once was. Throughout his retelling of his
return to the Western States 100-miler, Karnazes is able to put his entire
running career into perspective.

After finishing the race, Karnazes was not finished. He kept running and
ends the book expressing the frustration many runners felt in 2020: having
the desire to run but having no races in which to compete. With Covid
leading to his race schedule being canceled, Karnazes did the only thing
that seemed natural—he ran the Miwok 100K alone.

And while most runners won’t be able to relate to the length and duration
of Karnazes’s races, anyone who is a runner will understand his closing
message: “For me, as for every runner, runs end, running is forever . . .”
(243).

Less about training philosophies and nutritional advice than many running
books, *A Runner’s High* presents not only runners but all readers the
reminder that the destination itself is not the goal. The process of
getting there is what matters most.
Remember to smell the roses as you recumber past

Duncan R. Jamieson, Ph. D.
Professor of History
Book Review Editor
*AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature*
Ashland University
Ashland, OH  44805
USA
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