Life Is a Marathon: A Memoir of Love and Endurance (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780738284774)

An endurance athlete and coach reveals how the marathon transforms the lives of everyone who attempts it--and how it has helped his own family cope with serious adversity

Step after step for 26.2 miles, hundreds of thousands of people run marathons. But why--what compels people past pain, lost toenails, 5.30 am start times, The Wall? Sports writer Matt Fitzgerald set out to run eight marathons in eight weeks across the country to answer that question. At each race, he meets an array of runners, from first timers, to dad-daughter teams and spouses, to people who'd been running for decades, and asks them what keeps them running. But there is another deeply personal part to Matt's journey: his own relationship to the sport--and how it helped him overcome his own struggles and cope with his wife Nataki's severe bipolar disorder.

A combination of Matt's own How Bad Do You Want It? and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Life Is a Marathon captures the magic of those 26.2 miles. At the end of the day--and at the end of the race--the pursuit of a marathon finish line is not unlike the pursuit of happiness. You will pick up the book for a powerful personal story about what running does for the people for whom it does the most. You will put it down with a greater understanding of what it means to be alive in this world.


Author: Matt Fitzgerald
ISBN-10: 0738284777
ISBN-13: 9780738284774
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
Language: English
Published: 03/26/2019
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.20d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2019
Publishers Weekly 12/24/2018
Booklist 02/15/2019 pg. 10
Library Journal 03/01/2019 pg. 125