Off Course: Inside the Mad, Muddy World of Obstacle Course Racing - Hardcover

Beresini, Erin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544055322 ISBN 13: 9780544055322

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014

Synopsis

A fun, funny, fist-pumping romp through the thriving new fitness culture of obstacle course racing

Obstacle course racing is the fastest-growing sport in U.S. history. Every week, thousands of marathoners, CrossFitters, and casual weekend warriors shell out money to run through mud and fire, crawl under barbed wire, scramble over ten-foot walls, and dodge baton-wielding gladiators. Some even sprint through electrically charged wires only to suffer muscle-seizing shocks and faceplant in the muck.

In Off Course, Outside journalist and endurance athlete Erin Beresini dives straight into this strange world to reveal a new subculture of military-inspired amateur competition and the industry that’s rapidly growing to support it. Having reached a crossroads in her own athletic pursuits, Beresini embarked on a journey to train and compete in several obstacle races herself, culminating in the world’s first marathon-length event, the grueling Spartan Ultra Beast. Along the way, she met a wild cast of characters, from frat boys to housewives, fitness buffs to financiers to fanatics, and uncovered the sport's biggest scandals, lawsuits, and rivalries.

As Beresini inches ever closer to her goal — and gets pretty buff in the process — she also illuminates the history, psychology, science, and sociology of this new sport that’s taking the endurance world by storm.

About this title

Book Description

HMH hardcover, 2014; previous ISBN 978-0-544-05532-2

From the Inside Flap

Obstacle-course racing is the fastest-growing sport in U.S. history. Every week, thousands of marathoners, CrossFitters, and casual weekend warriors shell out money to run through mud and fire, crawl under barbed wire, scramble over ten-foot walls, and dodge baton-wielding gladiators. They are a new wave of athlete for whom running thirteen or twenty-six miles just isn't enough. They crave a primal challenge, and they have the caked mud on their shoes—and in their hair—to prove it. 
 
In Off Course, Outside journalist and endurance athlete Erin Beresini dives straight into this strange world to reveal a new subculture of military-inspired amateur competition and the industry that’s rapidly growing to support it. Having reached a crossroads in her own athletic pursuits, Beresini embarked on a journey to train and compete in several obstacle races herself, culminating in the world’s first marathon-length event, the grueling Spartan Ultra Beast. Along the way, she met a wild cast of characters, from frat boys to housewives, fitness buffs to financiers, and uncovered the sport's biggest scandals, lawsuits, and rivalries. 
 
As Beresini inches ever closer to her goal—and gets pretty buff in the process—she also illuminates the history, psychology, science, and sociology of this new sport that’s taking the endurance world by storm.
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0544055322
• ISBN 13: 9780544055322
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256