Ultramarathon Man by Dean
Karnazes
Great Inspiration
Ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes claims There is magic in misery. While it
would be easy to write off his habit of running for 100 miles at a time —or
longer—as mere masochism, its impossible to not admire his tenacity in
pushing his body to reach one extreme goal after another. Sure, its gory to
read about how he lost one of his big toenails from shoe friction during the
Western States Endurance Run. But what registers more is that heres a
guy competing in an event that includes 38,000 feet of elevation change--
the equivalent of scaling the Empire State Building 30 times. Despite his
considerable athleticism, Karno argues that the first half of any race is run
with ones body, and the second half with the mind. Without delving into
excessively touchy-feely territory, he explores the possibilities of self as he
completes an ultra-marathon in 120-degree heat in Death Valley, and later
the first-ever marathon at the South Pole. Its an odd combination: a
California surfer dude contemplating how, as Socrates said, Suffering
leads to wisdom. But Karnazess self-motivation is utterly intriguing, and its
impossible to read this memoir without wanting to go out and run a
marathon yourself.--Erica Jorgensen
Personal Review: Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes
I'm one of those guys who tends to fluctuate in weight as well as fitness
level, and inherently my level of motivation determines both of those. A
former college athlete, I was always in very good physical shape, and
could basically eat anything and be alright. As the years have gone on
(heck, I'm only 28!), I find myself having one poor eating day and gaining
five pounds, and finding it incredibly difficult to maintain my exercising
motivation. I have a 2 year old daughter, a 7 month pregnant wife, work all
day, play the role of husband and daddy all evening, and in the winter
months, yes, even in Arizona, it's just so cold and difficult to become
motivated at 4am.
Enter Ultramarathon Man. A good friend of mine plays the part of my
motivator. He's in excellent shape, is incredibly disciplined in every aspect
of his life. Before heading out to Mexico last summer, he dropped this
book off at my door and said "read it and enjoy." Two days later, I had
read the book, front cover to back--and I did thoroughly enjoy reading the
book. I read it again--and now 6 months later, coming out of a rut, I'll be
reading it yet again.
Why? It's an enjoyable read that is incredibly uplifting and inspirational on
several levels--this superhuman that is Dean Karnazes is so humbled and
down-to-earth about his accomplishments, that you feel as though you're
reading a book by your best pal, or by your biggest fan. He wants you to
read his story, and then create your own off of that. I'm not saying that he
advocates someone 50lbs overweight to go out and run Badwater. I'm
saying that he makes you want to challenge yourself to reach beyond what
you believe you are capable of doing. That's why I love the book. As each
chapter progresses, I want to set it down, lace up my shoes, and head to
the mountains for a run, no matter what hour of day it is. At the same time
the book is so fast paced and enjoyable, it's difficult to set down so you just
keep reading.
Will it go down in history as a literary masterpiece? No. But it's about as
motivating as it gets...
To the people who say "Dean's not even the best ultrarunner out there, but
the book makes people think he is..." get over it. The guy wrote the book,
and did a damn good job at that.
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