The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What 35 Years of Running Has Taught Me About Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart - Hardcover

Burfoot, Amby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1602391858 ISBN 13: 9781602391857

Publisher: Skyhorse, 2007

Synopsis

C ited by Runner’s World magazine as one of the best books ever written on running, The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life reveals as much about reaching your full potential as it does about sport. Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot, one of running’s wisest voices, presents 15 life lessons about passion, courage, materialism, failure, and regeneration, all learned during his more than 35 years of experience in running. He discusses a runner’s essential traits—qualities necessary for everyone striving to reach a long-term goal—as well as the writing, music, and quotes that have continually inspired him. Most important, Burfoot explains that winners are not those who cross the finish line first, but those who discover more about themselves with every step.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life
What 35 Years of Running Has Taught Me about Winning, Losing, Happiness, Humility, and the Human Heart

On Finding Your Path
"I have learned that there is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving. It's not about speed and gold medals. It's about refusing to be stopped. You might find that one particular direction proves difficult, but there are many directions on a compass. Infinite, in fact. As long as you keep searching, you'll find your way."

On Creativity
"Sometimes my main reason for running is simply to see where my brain will go while my body is meandering though the local trails or roadways. It can never be predicted, and it's always a surprise."

On The Need For Traditions
"In a world that perpetually moves faster, never slower, we need all the anchoring points we can find. Chaos erupts spontaneously in our spinning lives. It's the center of the wheel that we need to focus on more often."

On Bouncing Back
"Losing isn't contagious. It's not a fatal condition, and it's not forever. It's more like a cold that makes you miserable for a week but then goes away, and you're fine."

On Goals
"When in the mountains enjoy the mountain scenery. Nobody achieves his goal without having some fun along the way. Without fun, we'd give up long before the finish line. If there's any way to make the road easier and enjoyable, I'm all for it."

On Starting Fresh
"Life goes on, day after day, but it also has the ability to reinvent itself, to start over. This is what the seasons show us. We all have marveled at the apple tree's ability to rest through a dark, cold winter, then to grow new leaves in the spring, to blossom again, to bear fruit. We don't often think of our own lives this way, but I think we should."

About the Author
A lifelong runner and running advocate, Amby Burfoot has been executive editor of Runner's World magazine since 1985. In 1968, he won the Boston Marathon, the first American to do so in 11 years. He is the author of The Principles of Running and Runner's World Complete Book of Running.

About the Author

Amby Burfoot won the Boston Marathon in 1968 and joined Runner's World ten years later. He became executive editor in 1985, and he held the position for twenty years before retiring in 2013. Amby has run 110,000 miles in his lifetime and owns the US's longest active "race road streak," having completed the Thanksgiving Day 5-mile run in Manchester, Connecticut, fifty-five years in a row. Currently a writer at-large for Runner's World, he has been honored by numerous running organizations both as an athlete and as a writer. Now in his early seventies, he continues running up to thirty miles a week.

About this edition

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1602391858
• ISBN 13: 9781602391857
• Binding: Turtleback
• Number of pages: 150