Book Review: The Great Grete Waitz

Book Review: The Great Grete Waitz

by | Oct 22, 2024 | Article, Book Review

By Editors of Runner’s World Magazine

Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

When it comes to the pioneers of women’s long-distance running, Kathrine Switzer is usually the first one to come to mind. Joan Benoit Samuelson is another. Roberta Gibb, Micki Gorman, Ingrid Kristiansen, and others deserve participation in the conversation. But one that usually gets left out is Norwegian Grete Waitz. If you never heard that name, just know this: she is a 9-time winner of the New York City Marathon. No, not a typo: Nine times!

The Great Grete Waitz

In 1983 Grete Waitz won her 5th NYC Marathon, just a couple of days after we crossed paths running in Central Park.

In these days of social media and harvesting of likes, when you don’t even need to be a good runner to become famous, the field of celebrity athletes has become very crowded. Yet, Grete was known for shying away from fame, endorsements, and interviews because as much as she enjoyed running and winning, she disliked fame and the inconveniences brought by fortune.

The trailblazing pigtailed blonde revolutionized women’s distance running by showing the world what was possible. She initially competed in shorter distances, but it was her switch to the marathon that cemented her legacy. She made history in 1978 when she won the New York City Marathon with a world record in her first attempt at the distance despite having neither experience nor training. Later she became the first woman to finish under 2:30 and also earned the silver medal in the 1984 Olympic marathon, the first time the event was held for women. Throughout her career, she set several world records, won five World Cross Country Championships, participated in three Olympics, and inspired countless male and female runners globally.

The Great Grete Waitz is an eBook compilation of eight articles published by Runner’s World Magazine between March 1981, after her third straight NYC win, and July 2011, a few months after her untimely passing due to cancer at age 57. The articles vary from lengthy features to short write-ups. Seven of them were written about her by other people, except for “My First Time” a candid, memorable, first-person account of her first marathon, which is the lore of legend.

There is also a beautiful first-person account by the marathon founder Fred Lebow about his side-by-side run with Grete of the 1992 race. The back story, if you don’t know it, is that Lebow was diagnosed with brain cancer. He always wanted to run his five-borough race, but as his time was running out, he ran it with his friend in 5:32. A delightful read that guarantees teary eyes even on the toughest macho reader.

The Great Grete WaitzBecause this eBook consists of so many articles written within such a wide time frame, some facts are constantly repeated. Some stories may have a few minor contradictions here or there because they are memories of the same incident by so many people over such a long period of time, but they are not a reason to question her accolades or achievements.

I heard the name Grete Waitz for the first time in 1982, as she won NYC the year my dad ran his first marathon. The following year, when I ran my first NYC she won again. My best Grete memory was when my dad and I went for a shakeout run in Central Park the Friday before my race and we saw her running. For an 18-year-old kid from Venezuela, crossing paths with The Great Grete Waitz was the equivalent of seeing a Martian.

Beyond her racing success, Waitz was known for her humility and dedication to giving back. After retiring, she focused on philanthropy, supporting cancer research and youth sports, even as she battled cancer herself. She remains a beloved figure in the running community, celebrated not only for her extraordinary accomplishments but also for her role in making distance running more accessible for women. While Kathrine Switzer was the catalytic force that brought women\’s running to the forefront, Waitz showed the world what women could achieve if they were just allowed to try.

This eBook is only 127 pages and can be acquired via Amazon for your Kindle for just $1.99. It must be available for other platforms. It is a negligible investment for an insight into one of the names of women’s running that should never be forgotten or underestimated.

Please like this post and share any recommendations from your previous experiences in the box below. Let’s build a community of informed and prepared runners.

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Book Review – “We Share the Sun”

Book Review – “We Share the Sun”

by | Oct 17, 2023 | Book Review

By Sarah Gearhart

Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

As the subtitle of this book clearly defines, this is the story of \”the incredible journey of Kenya\’s legendary coach Patrick Sang and the fastest runners on Earth.\” Author Sarah Gearhart had unprecedented access to Sang and his Global Sports Communications training camps, located in Kaptagat, a small town nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in Kenya\’s Great Rift Valley. From there, she reports through short chapters, kind of small essays, about what happens there and how some of the best runners the world has ever seen train and interact within and outside those walls.

Patrick Sang may not be a household name to most running fans. Maybe a handful of the most knowledgeable historians remember his steeplechase silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when Kenya swept the podium. But for sure, most casual fans must have heard about some of Sang\’s top trained athletes: Geoffrey Kamworor, Faith Kipyegon, and the one and only Eliud Kipchoge.

We Share The Sun

When Eliud Kipchoge broke the marathon World Record in Berlin, the first thing he did was hug Patrick Sang

Sarah Gearhart goes into detail about Sang\’s life story, from his early days in rural Kenya to his Olympic glory, going through his competitive years as part of the University of Texas and then his years competing in Europe. Then, his beginnings, establishment, and apotheosis as a running coach.

The book reviews a handful of Sang\’s top pupils. The likes of Victor Chumo, Laban Korir, Jonathan Korir, and their triumphs are well-detailed. But she centers Sang\’s impact on three of the top runners ever. There\’s Geoffrey Kamworor, a two-time winner of the NYC Marathon, 3-time half-marathon world champion, and former world record holder in the distance, who overcame a nasty injury after being hit by a car during a training run to return to the top of his game. He finished 2nd in the 2023 London Marathon.

There\’s also Faith Kipyegon, who, after winning gold in the 1500 at the Rio Olympics in 2016, had a daughter and had to juggle motherhood and world-class athletics to repeat the feat in Tokyo 2020. Her sacrifices in family and parenthood, and her determination to succeed where few women of her origin can, become inspiring through Gearhart\’s pen. As a corollary, which comes after the book was published, in June 2023, she broke 2 world records (1500 and 5000) at the Diamond League Meeting in Paris.

We Share The Sun

After motherhood, Faith Kipyegon came back to win olympic gold and set new world records

And then there is this skinny teenager who once approached Sang asking for workouts. He graciously gave him a couple of weeks of work and forgot about it. The teenager kept returning for more and, through constant and hard work, became the Eliud Kipchoge we all know and who needs no introduction.

There are no earth-shattering revelations in this book. It is not about what gives Kenyans the edge in long-distance running. It is an intimate look inside the walls of the Global Sports Communications camp, which happens to have the best in the world. It is about a running unsung hero and the essence of what it takes to be a member of his elite Global Sports Communications running group, which happens to bring out the best of the best out of the most talented Kenyan runners and has produced some of the top runners, of both sexes, the world has ever seen. It is about Patrick Sang\’s personality and kindness. Can you imagine what would have happened if he had not been kind to Eliud Kipchoge when he approached him?

I don\’t want to finish this book review without sharing the introduction to Chapter 23, titled \”Pushing.\” It is not attributed to anyone, so it is not clear to me if this was written by the author or picked up from someone else. Regardless of its origin, there is not a wasted word. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

\”He can quit anytime.
When his muscles tighten, leaving his body uncomfortably numb.
When his lungs plead for more air.
When cramps pinch with arresting tension.

He can quit anytime.
When a blister balloons on his feet, the friction a piercing pain.
When his body boxes with his mind.

He can quit anytime.
When his competitor pulls ahead, the speed unmatched.
When the finish line seems to stretch.
When the last mile is more punishing than the others.

He can quit anytime.
When his legs begin to lose the fight.
When his goal slips out of sight.

He can quit anytime.
But he keeps going.\”

NOTE: Since the writing of this article, Eliud Kipchoge is no longer the world record holder in the marathon. Kelvin Kiptum broke the record in the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

 

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Book Review – Today We Die A Little

Book Review – Today We Die A Little

by | May 18, 2021 | Book Review

Written by Richard Askwith
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro 

While the running heroes of the latest generations may be Usain Bolt, Ryan Hall or Eliud Kipchoge, to their grandparents, most likely, there was no greater running hero than Czechoslovakian Emil Zatopek. If you know anything beyond just his name, is that he is the only person in Olympic history to win the 5,000, 10,000 and Marathon, and he did it all in the same games: Helsinki 1952.

Today We Die A Little“Today We Die a Little” is a comprehensive biography published in 2016 by author, Richard Askwith, who has also published a few other sports books, most of them on running. A self-confessed Zatopek admirer, he delves into a quest to find as much first-hand information on his subject so he can figure out how to separate the man from the myth.  During the narrative he explains his process and his sources, so it becomes easier to establish what and how much goes beyond mythology.

What I liked from this book is that it establishes Emil as a real person, beyond the accolades and the world records. It spends plenty of time on his family background and the political situation that surrounded his childhood, which eventually becomes an inescapable part of his personal history. His first steps into foot racing happen as a teenager and little by little, defeat by defeat, he starts figuring out his talent until he becomes the Emil Zatopek we know. It is then that the Czechoslovakian communist regime figures out they have a propaganda tool at their disposal and begin to exploit it in every possible way.

Zatopek was a household name before Helsinki 1952. These Olympics were just the summit of his career. After doubling in the 5 and 10 thousand, he decided on a whim to give the marathon a shot, which he had never run. Not only did he win, but he also established his third Olympic Record of the games.

Emil is well known for the fierceness of his training. The book spends a good portion digging into his method and the reason behind it, which was more art than science based. He would run full-out 400-meter repeats relentlessly, almost every day. It is said that he would run up to 50 of them on a single session. Emil was big on recovery and took walks or easy runs around the woods, many times with his wife, Olympic champion Dana Zatopkova. But the constant hammering of his body and the frequency of his racing was too much, even for the most gifted of athletes, so his career fizzled out way sooner than if he had managed it with contemporary methods of rest and recovery.

Today We Die A LittleAs stated earlier, Zatopek’s life went beyond the track, and given his notoriety and propaganda value for the communist regime in his country, he became an army officer with way more privileges than the norm. Even though at times he was outspoken and fought for what he thought right; his position was never undisputed. He took all the advantages and privileges he could from the regime, until he no longer was useful to them.

Emil had to work an impossible balance act to please both his admirers and his government. There were the ones that wanted him to be the face of the oppressive regime and the ones who needed his celebrity to speak against it. Such an act was so difficult to pull off that he paid for it dearly. At the author well puts it: “It is not as if Emil went un-judged in his lifetime, either: by the Communist who thought he had betrayed them and by the anti-Communists who thought he had betrayed them”.

In his sundown years, he was still an Olympic hero and was invited to many events and sports meets as a goodwill ambassador. At home he was ostracized and hidden from public view, but overseas the government still displayed him as a national treasure, while surrounding him with chaperones that made sure he did not say anything inappropriate while his wife stayed home as a hostage, making sure he didn’t defect.

I really enjoyed this book. Very well researched, very well written and a story very well told. Beyond Emil Zatopek’s life, this story takes you to a period in the history of our planet that most of us in the western world, 70 o 80 years later, may have already forgotten. This is a good read which I recommend to any runner interested in learning about one of the biggest glories of our sport.

 
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Book Review – 26 Marathons

Book Review – 26 Marathons

by | Feb 9, 2021 | Book Review, Opinion

By Meb Keflezighi (With Scott Douglas)
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 When we talk about the top US marathoners in the United States during the first fifth of the 20th Century, the name of Meb Keflezighi automatically jumps to the forefront. If you don’t consider him at the top of the list, which you are entitled to, it seems difficult he won’t be on your Top-3 or Top-5. He is the only runner to ever win Boston, New York and earn an Olympic medal. And even though he only won 3 of his 26 career marathons (hence the name of the book), his personality, constant top-level performances and contagious smile, made him an icon on the world stage between 2002-2017.

26 Marathons


A good book, well written and worth the time and the money

In his latest book, Keflezighi goes into detail about each one his 26 marathons. How he trained, what were his life challenges at the time, how he performed and the sports and life lessons he took from each one of them. He enjoys and doesn’t shy away from the glory of his successes, yet at the same time makes himself vulnerable by taking us through his failures and how to deal with them when you are expected to perform at a certain level and you just can’t.

This is a short book, about 250 pages, and a very pleasant read. Succinct chapters allow you to soak in a marathon or two in each sitting, without being overwhelmed by excessive details.

At times it becomes difficult to relate to Meb’s running experiences because 99.9% of runners will never need to ponder if we are ready to respond to Eliud Kipchoge’s surge in the Olympics or how to prepare for what may come to us in the last 10K of the New York City Marathon when you enter First Avenue as part of the leading pack. But that doesn’t matter. We read books about great baseball or football players though we will never be on the field with them at the next World Series or Super Bowl. Meb’s tales from the front are well told and through his words, he does bring us with him to that place we will only see when we are watching a race on TV.

The book is geared towards life lessons on planning, patience, adjustment to goals, change of expectations made on the fly and many other subjects that mean something to us when they come from first-hand experiences from a world-class athlete who has been there not one, but many times.

A leitmotif for Meb’s career was his spouse’s support. He doesn’t hide that his wife, Yordanos, was the family’s backbone that permitted him to achieve his goals. As runners, we all need the support of our wives, husbands or significant-others to achieve what we are looking for, and the Keflezighis show us how.

26 Marathons

Only athlete ever to win Boston, New York and an Olympic medal

I loved Meb’s conclusion about his career as a marathoner. We may not be able to relate to some of his tales from the leading pack, but everyone who has completed multiple marathons, somehow will see himself/herself in this:

“I did twenty-six marathons over fifteen years, one for each mile of the race. I learned that the marathon can hate you or love you. It can make you go though misery or experience great joy. I learned that no matter what it happens, eventually you’ll look back and think, ‘That was a beautiful thing. I’m glad I did it.”

If you want to know more about Meb’s personal life, his childhood in Eritrea, move to the United States, life and career, “Run to Win” is your book. “26 marathons” is a good book, well written and worth the time and the money you will spend on it. But I do think it is important to understand what the book is and what it is not, before you tackle it, so you can be in the right frame of mind when you read it and thus, get the most out of it.

If anyone knows or has access to Meb, please thank him on my behalf for both books and for being an inspiration to the running community throughout his long career. His name is up there with Alberto Salazar, Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Ryan Hall, Clarence De Mar, etc. in the pantheon of great US runners of all time.

 

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Book Review: Marathon Man

Book Review: Marathon Man

by | Aug 12, 2020 | Book Review

Book Authors: Bill Rodgers & Matthew Shepatin

Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
 

Marathon ManIn the few years after Frank Shorter won the Olympic gold medal in the 1972 Olympic marathon, officially starting the running boom in the United States, there was no marathoner more famous or more accomplished than Bill Rodgers. A small town, easy going, aloof, simple man, who decided to quit the party, smoking and drinking scene to discover his gift for running and embraced it to the fullest. He won the Boston Marathon four times and is the only man with four victories in the New York City Marathon. He also was an Olympian in 1976.

 Rodgers was an above average runner during his high school years. Faster than whatever you or I can run a mile to 5K, but not enough to be a legend or anything close. But in college he happened to room with Amby Burfoot, whose dream was to one day win the Boston Marathon, which he did in 1968. Burfoot was tutored by Young Johnny Kelley, the 1957 Boston champion, who in turn had been tutored by Johnny “The Elder” Kelley, winner of two Bostons plus a record seven second places.

 Rodgers trained with Burfoot in 1968 and even kept pace with him in long 20+ milers after a night of drinking and partying. Yet, he never thought of running long distances competitively.

 In Marathon Man, Rodgers treats us with a first person account of his journey from an ordinary citizen, a teacher and an ok runner to the most decorated long distance US runner in history. This is not your typical “look-how-great-I-am” biography, it is a journey with many ups and downs; with struggles, both physical and financial; it is a story of both DNFs and breaking finish line tapes.

 Most of the book is centered on Rodgers’ win of the Boston Marathon on April 21st, 1975. Fifteen of the 21 chapters start with an exquisitely detailed account of the race, enriched throughout with the lore of this, the most famous footrace in the history of footraces. From there one, the second part each one of those chapters are flashbacks to his life starting eight years before that day and finishing at the start of that particular race. Two chronicles of the same story are happening simultaneously, which provides incredible dynamism to the narrative. Once he wins, he focuses on his Olympic experience and his first New York City win. The latter one was the one that happen to put that marathon in the map.

 Bill was not just an airheaded runner. He stood for and by certain political beliefs, becoming a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War and paying consequences. He had clashes with the AAU and voiced his displeasure at them taking away the monies athletes won while not allowing them to make a living off their talents. There are also plenty of insights about the early days of the running boom. This is great stuff for anyone who enjoys or has enjoyed long distance running or followed it 30-35 years ago.

 On a personal note, Rodgers has always intrigued me because when I started running as a teenager he was the top dog. He won the very first marathon I ran, (Orange Bowl 1983) and I had the chance to see him fly by twice throughout the course. After my second Marathon (New York 1983), my dad bought me a Bill Rodgers set of short and singlet, which I used only for my top races, including my 3rd and 4th marathons (Caracas 1984 and 1985), where I had my two best times. My 5th Marathon (Philadelphia 2012) was won by Rodgers way back when. So somehow he’s been a presence during most of my long distance endeavors.

 This is a fascinating biography about a fascinating character narrated in a fascinating way. Worth not only every penny but also every minute you’ll invest reading it.

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