Hyde wrote:
Ron Hill: The long hard road part II, to the top and beyond.
Agreed, amazing book, but not as good as part 1.
Hyde wrote:
Ron Hill: The long hard road part II, to the top and beyond.
Agreed, amazing book, but not as good as part 1.
The Gooch wrote:
Can you tell me more about the Bedford and Zatopek books? Author, publisher, etc? I've been looking for those two for several years. Those are probably the only two biographies I don't have...
Cheers.
The Dave Bedford book is very rare because the spine was poorly bound and very few copies survived.
I have a PDF of the ultra ultra rare Bedford book.
Please see my website below for details...
For Rampant Rat: There is a Steve Cram book - Steve Cram. The Making of an Athlete. 1984. Author Roger Tames. Publisher. W H Allen. I've read it but can't remember much about it.
My favourites are:
Ovett - An Autobiography
Running Free - David Miller (Early Seb Coe up to Feb 1981)
tb
Forgot a couple:
Corbitt/John Chodes about Ted C, US Olympic marathoner, pioneer in RRCA & course certification standards
Silence of Great Distance/Frank Murphy, a history of women's running w/riveting tale of Stephanie Herbst
Dave Moorcroft - Running Commentary.
Brilliant
Slim Jim wrote:
Hyde wrote:Ron Hill: The long hard road part II, to the top and beyond.
Agreed, amazing book, but not as good as part 1.
Agreed as well...Part I is great. Part II is kinda depressing as Ron was "on the way up" in Pt I and floundering off and on in Pt II. Both books are THE best runner bio/autobio's in my opinion. Ron is very analytical and meticulous (has a PHD in Chemistry). He analyses his races, training etc from the late 1950's up to 1985.
Many people think that Ron was a failure in that he won some huge races, yet never medaled in the 3 Olympic Games he ran in. I don't feel that way. He was one of the first Marathon "superstars". He won more marathons and long road races than anyone up to Bill Rodgers. How he did all the training (he ran around 100 per week at his peak) and racing (one or more per week for months on end) and working full time as a chemist....I don't know. This was before prize money was in marathoning too.
Autobiographies are always the best bet in runners stories. Ron Clarke and Roger Bannister's are my next two (autobio's) choices.
Any biography on Eamonn Coughlan...Chairman of The Boards
"My Life . . . In Trainers" by Jason Rexing
A super read.
Carl Lewis' "My Professional Life In Amateur Track and Field" is an interesting and easy read. Read it when I was younger. Bannister's "Four Minute mile" is good - change of pace (haha) from Lewis' book in style, language, etc. but still quite interesting.
"Sub 4:00" about Alan Webb's first year in Michigan is GREAT, especially for someone who didnt know much about nca track at the time. was interesting to get some first/second hand accounts. Tells about Webb and Nate Brannen, with some stuff about ron warhurst, kevin sullivan and tim broe. SUCH an interesting book.
Autobiographies are always the best bet in runners stories. Ron Clarke and Roger Bannister's are my next two (autobio's) choices.[/quote]
"Marathoning" by Joe Concannon & Bill Rodgers is an excellent. Old school.
The Pat Butcher book on Coe/Ovett was hightly disappointing. Maybe you have to be British to appreciate their rivalry.
The Perfect Mile is a wonderfully woven story about Bannister, Santee, and Landy's quest for sub4. Let's hope the movie does it justice.
A Cold, Clear Day is great.
Self Made Olympian - Ron Daws' autobio is hard to find. Inspiring.
The two Kiwi bios (Snell's and Halberg's) are mind numbing. No imagination.
too many more to mention.
whether you're american or not (i'm not), running with the buffaloes is a great read. good combination of nuts and bolts training schedules and human interest. some of the workouts goucher does in that book are pretty insane (esp. the 22 miler).
"The two Kiwi bios (Snell's and Halberg's) are mind numbing. No imagination."
Interesting that a; should say that. Yes ! they are not literary greats but do give some background to the guys.
However, along a;'s lines. I found an interview done by Garth Gilmour about 10 years ago where he said he struggled to get information out of Snell for the book (I have sent the article to HRE).
He notes how different Snell is with communication and the way he puts things across. His confidence within himself is so much better.
I guess Peter is so much more comfortable with who he is.
New Zealanders are tough on their National heroes.
I have heard people say here in NZ . "I wonder what Snell's Book would be like if it was written now".
I feel he would comment on his training more ( the good and the bad!!)and the whole Lydiard philosophy on conditioning.
Mick--great list: thanks!
I'm currently in the process of writing my autobiography, in third-person narrative format. Here's an excerpt from Chapter 3 (at around the age of 6 or 7 months):
If there was one silver lining to that recent manifestation of truth inside of him, it was the spark of encouragement that violently set his soul aflame. What had once been nonflammable in him was now burning with rage. A forest fire of passion had broken out. A volcano of molten, burning lava had erupted. A bunch of hooded racists had taken his cross and illuminated the brilliant southern sky with blazing desire. A grease fire of fervor had flared from his emotional stove. The metaphors for fire went on and on for days.
Robert had abandoned depression for dedication. He entered a single-minded state (disposing of all other minds but that one) only accessible after rigorous retinal scanning and keycard activation. Unlike his original birth, he had been re-born…to fight. His training was simple: he fought babies all day long. Still encumbered by Robert’s desires, his parents had no choice but to obey. They hired professional combat babies for quarrels that could last for days on end. To Robert, though, these weren’t mere babies. These babies were enemy babies. Ferocious, rabid, beautiful enemy babies.