Victor’s Life List

Book: Ultra Marathon Man

Author: Dean Karnazes

This is one of the best books I have read on sports. Dean Karnazes, known for his great feats in Ultra-marathoning, tells us how he picked up running as his form of creative expression and for his form of therapy.

Dean Karnazes is internationally recognised endurance athlete. I love how he explains in thorough detail what he goes through to his journey to be an ultra-marathoner. He tells about the emotions and hardships that he goes through during his runs. He talks about how he first started running as a teenager. How he experienced a 15 years hiatus from running. How he first participated in his ultra-marathon.

I especially love how he tell his journey during his first 100 mile race, called the Western States 100 Mile Race. I especially respect his guts, determination and persistance for attempting such runs. He tells about his feats of running the South Pole Marathon and the Death Valley Marathon ( a 200 mile race ).

This book explores the life of a great individual who treats running as his life. After reading his book, the urge to run was so great that I went out straight away to run. I love how he explains that he treats his running as a form of therapy. He tells how his running has brought his family together, and how he used it as a tool for reflection and solitude. How so many of those “inner chatter” arise within himself during those long and dwinding run.

I will always remember a part of the book when he says that he runs marathon as just practice run.

This is a book I recommend to all runners and sports lovers. It tells how great the human spirit is.

“The Human Body Has Limitations, The Human Spirit Is Boundless.”