Running With the Legends: Training and Racing Insights from 21 Great Runners - Softcover

Sandrock, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0873224930 ISBN 13: 9780873224932

Publisher: Human Kinetics, 1996

Synopsis

Read Running with the Legends and become a training partner, student, friend, and fan of some of the greatest runners ever. You'll be informed, inspired, and entertained by the programs, prescriptions, and personalities in this book. Who better to learn from than the best?

Legends is more than a collection of biographies. It provides the closest and most complete look at how running and runners have changed from the great Emil Zatopek in the '40s and '50s to the superlative Uta Pippig in the '90s. It does so by detailing the development, training techniques, coaching, competitions, motives, and perspectives of 21 all-time great runners.

Author Michael Sandrock, one of running's most prolific writers, draws upon his own 25-year running career and his extensive interviews and research to provide special insights throughout the book. Sandrock knows what runners want to know, and here he shares a wealth of information that's sure to satisfy with each sentence and sidebar.

The runners selected range from the imposing short distance speedster Alberto Juantorena to the determined long distance marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson. And because running greatness is not limited by political or geographical borders, runners from 17 countries are represented in the book.

From special tips you can use to incredible feats that will inspire you, Running with the Legends is full of material to enhance your own running and your appreciation of those who have set the standard for excellence.

About this title

About the Author

"

Michael Sandrock is an accomplished sports journalist with over 10 years of sports writing experience. He's a two-time winner and two-time runner-up of the Colorado Press Association Best Sports Story of the Year and has received the Colorado Society of Professional Journalists award for sports writing. Michael is currently sports editor of the Colorado Daily newspaper and freelances for several running publications, including Running Times, Runner's World, American Runner, and Footnotes.

An avid runner for 25 years, Michael is a training partner for many elite runners. He earned varsity letters in track and cross country from the University of Colorado, where he graduated with honors, and holds personal bests of 2:24 marathon, 30:23 10K, and 14:48 5K. He coached high school track and cross country and also coached track for the United States Information Agency in Africa.

Michael is the founder of the ""Shoes for Africa"" project where runners donate new and used running shoes and clothes for underprivileged athletes in several countries, including the United States.

Michael is a member of the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Society of Professional Journalists.

"

Reviews

The author, an accomplished marathoner, offers brief biographies of 21 of the best distance runners of the modern era, ranging from Emil Zapotek, the four-time Olympic gold-medal winner who set 18 world records in the late 1940s and early 1950s, to Uta Pippig, the East German defector who has recently dominated the women's marathon circuit. In each profile, Sandrock summarizes the subject's accomplishments, training regimen, athletic background, and recent life. But more than that, he searches for the ephemeral quality that drove each to succeed. These runners all possess--or are possessed by--an inner strength that propels them past equally talented competitors who have trained equally hard. Zapotek's sheer determination, for example, tended to discourage his opponents, while Pippig may still be running from the oppression of her Eastern bloc childhood. This is among the most fascinating books on runners and running to appear since Dr. George Sheehan was in full stride. Wes Lukowsky

In his introduction to The Lonely Breed (1967. o.p.), a book about 21 great distance runners, Ron Clarke wrote "This is just the type of book I have always wanted to read." The stories behind legendary athletes enthrall and inspire many of us. Citing the influence of The Lonely Breed in his introduction, Sandrock also writes about 21 runners, choosing an interesting cross-section: 14 men and 7 women, short-distance through marathon champions, and retired legends through current record blasters. Sandrock is a 25-year runner himself as well as a recognized sportswriter (currently for the Colorado Daily), and he offers not only fascinating insights into how these athletes live, train, and run but also much-needed updates of our historical and political perspectives on running. Recommended for public libraries.?Cindy Eubank, Waterloo P.L., Ia.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Human Kinetics
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0873224930
• ISBN 13: 9780873224932
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592