Book Review: Running to the Edge
Matthew Futterman’s Running to the Edge far exceeded my expectations, which were tempered because I had already seen the very good documentary City Slickers Can’t Stay With Me. That film and Running to the Edge both profile legendary distance coach Bob Larsen and his career guiding some of America’s best runners to glory. My fear was that there would be nothing to learn from the book having watched the documentary, but I was thankfully wrong.
The subtitle previews the “secrets of speed” and for Larsen that means long tempo runs. Larsen’s own injury history with everyday interval sessions on the track led him to discover the benefits of longer runs on the road and trails at a barely sustainable pace. He implements his training philosophy at a succession of coaching stops, culminating with national championships at UCLA and Olympic marathon medals for athletes he trained at the famed Mammoth Lakes training camp. The exploits of the Jamul Toads, an irreverent club team he coached, are the highlight of the book, and leaves the reader longing for the glory days of American distance running.
Futterman breaks up the Larsen narrative with italicized vignettes of his own, non-elite running journey. These are a mix of drama, humor, and triumph. Don’t skip them. Their inclusion in a book about the highest levels of running perfectly encapsulates the unique nature of road running: amateur plodders and weekend warriors run the same races and the same courses as professionals. Reading about the best inspires the rest of us to run just that bit faster, so we all have Matthew Futterman to thank for a few seconds coming off our next finish time.
Buy it, borrow it, skip it?
Buy it, and recommend it to your friends.
