50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days - Dean Karnazes

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Last summer I happened to be in Los Angeles when Dean Karnazes was promoting his new book, 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!. I had heard about it and actually remember somewhat following Dean’s 50 marathons in 50 days feat, which ended in my stomping grounds, New York City. I missed his appearance at Barnes and Noble, but it did remind me how much I love his first book, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, a book a gave five stars.

So did it live up to his first book? I must say, the first half of the book flew by – I was locked in. You could feel the passion for the goal and the overwhelming feeling when they initiated the monstrous task that Dean and his crew were partaking. From a runner’s point of view, it was great to see that a veteran still makes rookie mistakes like running through wet socks and not eating/drinking enough during marathons. For those reasons, he seems like he’s a very familiar runner, one that many other runners can connect to very easily.

Just like his other book, the best part of this book is accessible to runners and non-runners alike. During his 50 days across all 50 states, Dean toed the starting line with numerous people with inspiring stories of their own. As one could imagine, describing the act of running each of his 50 marathons could get quite repetitive, which made me hesitate to read the book from the beginning, but the people that you meet make you just want to lace them up and go out for a run. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see how far people travelled to join Dean on one his marathons. A number of runners went as far as altering their wedding/honeymoon plans – Amazing!

So, should you read this book? Absolutely. Overall, this book was very good. I will warn you that the second half has a number of promotions for The North Face, Dean’s sponsor. Fortunately, these promotions aren’t shameless and come in conjunction with excellent tips and actually made me think more highly of The North Face’s running products. Oh, and before I forget, all those Letsrun.com message board postings about how slow Dean was running, and the debate if he should be considered a runner or a jogger is just a waste of time. He is very much a runner – and provides people with an excellent example of how one can fit running into a busy life and raise an excellent family simultaneously. For all of us who are fathers, the tips he gives here are invaluable.

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Comments

One Response to “50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days - Dean Karnazes”

Bob Platt on April 16th, 2009 8:55 am

I met Dean at the RRCA Convention and bought his book. He is a very inspiring speaker, and his book is a good read. Although the book is organized as a chronological account of his 50 marathons, the “running tip” digressions are interesting. I think that it would be fatally boring to just give a running log account of the 50 marathons, and the adde material adds interest. For that reason, I also liked Jeff Horowitz’s “My First Hundred Marathons,” as being far more than a race recap.

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