For my BCBrum NSS recipient. Happy Christmas and hope you enjoy the book!

Thank you for this lovely book - I guessed correctly!

This autobiography of a famous ultrarunner and vegan has inspired me ... never to run a dangerous and scary ultra where you could fall off the edge of a mountain or even have to scramble up anything (an ultra is anything over the 26.2 miles of the marathon and there are nice road-based ones which I probably will eventually tackle. This guy does serious, terrifying stuff).

However, we can all enjoy reading about things we will never do, and this is a well-written and affecting read which is honest but never manipulative, even though there's some pretty heavy stuff in here. It takes us through Jurek's early life, when he used the woods to escape from his domineering father and his mother's serious illness (he credits both with teaching him lessons in strength and endurance) and then takes us through his running career to date, emphasising his grit and determination and also willingness to learn and share over merely being first and fast. He shares the hallucinations Dean Karnazes had during the Spartathlon, interestingly, and highlights lots of other runners and their strengths and achievements, too, which makes it a generous book.

The most important relationship in the book is Jurek's with his running mate and race pacemaker / supporter, Dusty. He freely admits that Dusty could have been the better runner, had he not been more concerned with chilling out, epic sessions and women, and there's a feeling of real grief when the relationship between them threatens to go awry. It's rare to see men writing about their friendships and this gives both laughs and a feeling of worry.

Jurek includes a running tip and a recipe at the end of each chapter, but makes it clear, especially with the recipes, that these are only suggestions, and he doesn't try to force his opinions on the reader (I actually thought he would be more forceful than he was, but of course, like the other runners whose books I've read recently, he's a pretty humble and self-effacing chap). He explains how moving to a vegan diet made him feel and how it affected his running, but there are plenty of doubts at the beginning and it's more a case of showing than telling.

Being of the opinion that it's not worth saving up advice and learning points for yourself when you can share them and help others, he usefully lists his four points for dealing with issues that crop up - and these are valid for life issues as well as on-the-run ones: 1. Let the feeling go; 2. Take stock; 3. Ask yourself what you can do to remedy the situation; and 4. Separate your negative feelings from the issue at hand. This is really useful and something I will try to remember.

Jurek wins even more points in my estimation by encouraging people to try volunteering, and he also not only credits his co-author, Steve Friedman, on the cover and title page, but shares the author bio page with him and thanks him AND his assistant in the acknowledgements - as someone who works with ghostwriters and co-authors, this is something I'm always very happy to see.

A great read, whether or not you're planning to do an ultramarathon and/or become a vegan.

Sending to Skinglist as part of our on-going, years-long book exchange.

OUr book swapping interests started with travel writing. We've moved into running reads as I started running early in 2017. Always great to find a friend with similar interests but different books in their libraries

Oops, forgot to post my review here http://travellingcari.com/2018/06/07/review-scott-jureks-eat-run-and-20booksofsummer/

PAssing this on to a colleague who I found out was a runner by virtue of her carrying Murakami's running book