By Dean Karnazes
Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 Since the unexpected success of his first book, Ultramarathon Man, back in March 2005, Dean Karnnzes has become a running celebrity. His superhuman feats of endurance and adventure have inspired thousands of ex-runners to lace up their shoes once again, and new ones to start pounding the asphalt for the very first time.

This book is a good investment in time and money

In “A Runners High”, Karnazes tells a variety of running stories interlaced with his preparation and participation in the 2019 edition of the Western States Endurance Run. This is a 100-Mile race that has become the Boston Marathon equivalent of the ultrarunning world. It takes place in the California Sierra Nevada during the last weekend of June. It ran for the first time in 1977.

The narrative starts with Karnazes preparing to run the Bishop High Sierra Ultramarathon, a 100K race in preparation for his eventual participation in the Western States, where the narration culminates. In the meantime, there are many first-person accounts and running stories that, even if many runners can’t relate, they are told in such a quotidian, non-technical, well described and no aggrandizing way, that if you have run for a few years, you will be able to visualize, identify and even feel the glory and the suffering of the storyteller.

The author also delves into the dynamics of his family and their intersection with his demanding running career and life. His son Nicholas and his parents, as well as their interactions, become important figures in the narration. As a runner, son, and father, I can definitely identify with many of those situations. His wife and daughter also made important appearances, but to a lesser degree.

As the weeks pass by and events take course during the span of a few months, some of Karnazes latest running adventures, the ones that haven’t made it to his previous books, make an appearance. His running of the Silk Road through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is the story I liked the best. It shows how running can become part of US diplomacy. It also takes you through some of the roads least traveled by every-day US citizens. His interaction with the locals and their customs is well told though very illustrative anecdotes.

“We discover who we are through the movement of our bodies” – Dean Karnazes

Then, of course, it comes Western States, where the whole gamut of human emotions show up at one point or another.  From euphoria to misery, and everything in between, take their turn as part of the racing experience. Through these emotions, he masterfully takes the reader through the understanding of the peaks and valleys of ultrarunning, even if he/she has never ventured beyond the thin line that separated “regular” running from ultrarunning.

Not sure if it was the vivid description of the misery he went through or that I don’t feel like the Western States are in my future, but the one thing I can say about this Karnazes book when comparted to his previous ones (which I’ve read them all), is that after finishing this one I didn’t feel the rush to lace up my shoes and go for a long run. Somehow, this experience was not relatable to me, while his other ones, while are not in my future either, were. But that is not a judgment on the book’s value, just a personal assessment.

As usual, Karnazes comes up sometimes with marvelous nuggets of running wisdom that become some of the most quoted in running. This one is the one that blew my mind; thus, I share:

“Running is a conversation, and education, a revolution, an awakening. We discover who we are through the movement of our bodies, and there are lessons to be learned in running alone much as there are in running large races”.

This is a good running book that most runners will enjoy and somehow relate. Entertaining, well-written, funny at times and deep at others without leaving you gloomy or mentally exhausted. A good investment of time and money.