i know this is an old thread, but can anyone email or paste up the chapter on breaking down of OAR, i lent out my copy to an old coach and still need to get it back, the pdf is also down.
thanks
ben
i know this is an old thread, but can anyone email or paste up the chapter on breaking down of OAR, i lent out my copy to an old coach and still need to get it back, the pdf is also down.
thanks
ben
Could you email me the pdf file for OAR?
beerslug wrote:
I just found out it's (OAR) free. There's a bitmapped PDF you can download.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been looking everywhere to get this book at some type of reasonable price and, in desperation, finally even bid $110 on Ebay for it. That was as high as I could go, and that wasn't enough to meet the reserve! I'm just getting into running, and I'd like to have an inspirational book to help me get going. If there truly is a PDF or ebook of OAR out there, I'd be happy to learn about it. In the last week, someone tried to sell an ebook of OAR on Ebay, and someone else tried to sell a xerox of the book for copyright infringement. Ebay pulled them, and rightly so. I was shocked that someone would break the copyright laws like that...although I admit that I bid on both items. :)
(Hey, gimme a break! I said I'm desperate! Write to me at quietstar at gmail dot com)
Hmmm...No edit/correction once you've posted. Then just let me rephrase that last comment:
I've been looking everywhere to get a copy of Once a Runner at some type of reasonable price and, in desperation, finally even bid $110 on Ebay for it. That was as high as I could go, and that wasn't enough to meet the reserve! I'm just getting into running, and I'd like to have an inspirational book to help me get going. If there truly is a PDF or ebook of OAR out there, I'd be happy to learn about it.
In the last week, someone tried to sell an ebook of OAR on Ebay, and someone else tried to sell a xerox of the book. Ebay pulled both listings because of copyright infringement, and rightly so. I was shocked that someone would break the copyright laws like that...although I admit that I bid on both items. :)
(Hey, gimme a break! I said I'm desperate!)
Please write to me at: quietstar at gmail dot com
Agreed. I'd take a copy of the term paper if you're still sending.
If anyone has the PDF and is willing to pass it on to me that would be awesome!
Thanks in advance!
I have a PDF version...
hey
sorry to bring this thread back, but i'm also doing a project on Once a Runner, more specifically on John L. Parker Jr. as a writer
I have a decent amount of information, but have found little on his childhood/ pre-college life. If anybody knows any details of could post any links to articles that would be much appreciated.
Secondly, i need to provide a 5minute excerpt for th class to read, and I'm pretty set on using the workout scene. do you think that will work? i need to ask a few questions about the reading as well.
thank you
Can somemone send me a pdf of once a runner please!!!! I will be forever grateful
Was the essay ever published?
What was the final grade?
Did any of the letsrun contributors in this thread get the essay?
I'd love to read the essay too.
This thread is from 2003. Wow.
bump.
if anyone has the essay please send it to me at
Don't hate on the address, I made it when I was probably too young to have an email.
would love to read the finished copy of the essay, i know it's an ancient thread, but it's a superb novel that would hopefully translate into an interesting essay.
BUMP
You should post the essay online
I wrote a paper on OAR back in high school. Granted it isn't a very good one, maybe it will give you some ideas or help.
To the Fellow Scholars of the Sacred Order of Endorphins
The number of times a distance runner is asked why he does it is roughly equal to the amount of people he or she has met who are not runners. People seem to think it is ridiculous to go out on a blistering summer day and go running as an activity of leisure. Onlookers confused faces seem to say “what is wrong that shirtless individual streaking down the road in less-than-socially-acceptable-length shorts? Is someone chasing him?”. Although, one must distinguish the difference between a real runner and the zombie-like movements of the casual iPod-wearing jogger who’s sole goal is to run off the guilt caused by a Snickers Bar. The difference is a real runner treats it as a lifestyle, not a hobby. It takes a specific type of person to be a member of this cult-like group dedicated to their daily ritual of hammering the pavement. A book titled Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. manages to personify the qualities that are necessary to be a runner through the character Quenton Cassidy. One must face the psychology struggle and the sacrifices in order to find the forms of enlightenment achieved by long-distance running.
“Mind Over Matter” is a common phrase associated with overcoming physiological obstacles by means of willpower. A runner is constantly pushing his body to the limit while every muscle screams for him to stop. During “the last lap of a foot race...[it feels like] running in peanut butter up to [one’s] waist,”(Parker 10). It’s as if one is attempting to keep going but some invisible force is preventing him or her from continuing. Yet it is not simply the physical pain that a runner must overcome. Quenton’s trainer tells him that “runners deal in discomfort. Once you get past a certain point that’s all their really is,” (222). A runner must walk the fine line between discomfort and despair. He must learn to push on in a state of mind where all that fills their mind is doubt. During Quenton’s 60 by 440 yard repeat workout he reminds himself during his suffering that “the slightest break in concentration [would] allow self-pity to well up in him instantly”. (224) He knows that if he lets himself give in to the pain that he will stop pushing himself. This battle between mind and body is a major aspect of running, but another part is being able to do it every day.
A runner must have some form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in order to achieve his goals. He must be willing to sacrifice a portion of every day, excluding those dedicated to recovery, for his addiction. When preparing for his morning run, Quenton thinks about how “he [does] not much like this early morning business, but the idea of forgoing it,... never crossed his mind,”(10). The need to get in a daily run becomes so deeply ingrained in a runner’s mind that not doing it seems out of the question. Quenton attempts to explain this phenomena to his girlfriend when tells her, “it’s demons, you see;...[they make me run] about sixteen, eighteen miles a day,”(59). This is the representation of the inner forces pushing a runner to go lace up the shoes and throw on a pair of shorts. Yet the true dedication is found in the stage known as “breaking down”. Quenton’s describes this stage where “he became weak, depressed; he needed twelve to fourteen hours of sleep,” (120). He feels that during this period is when “his life was most certainly focused on the Task,” (120). This intensity and hard work pays off though. Quenton remarks “from the crucible of such inner turmoil comes various metals, soft or brittle...that determine the good runners, the great runners,...and the former runners,”(120). If a runner can make it through the psychological struggle and the everyday toil, he is rewarded for his efforts.
The constant pushing and hard work gives a runner a purpose. A runner gains a sense of accomplishment; of worth from his strife. Quenton remarks that “running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew... it made him weary...but it also made him free,” (123). Running in it’s nature is the simplest sport there is, yet it is beautiful in it’s simplicity. He can see his progress in the physical manifestation of the ticking time off the clock. Quenton describes being in running shape as “[making] you want to bolt awake in the middle of the night with a shot of your own adrenaline, ready to run a hundred miles,”(60). The feeling of being in your best physical shape to-date after endless weeks of training can be described as jumpy ecstasy. Yet post-run is not the only time a runner experiences out-of-the-ordinary sensations. During high intensity running some find themselves in a situation in which their perception of reality is altered. This is most likely brought on by the decreased oxygen flow to the brain and release of the body’s natural pain-killers, endorphins. As Quenton grits through his 60 by 440 yard repeats “his mind had now taken up a melody, Fur Elise, and played it constantly without apparent pattern except that as each quarter began, so did his fragment of Beetwoven,” (225). This period of near-hallucination “[reassures] him that there were at least others in the universe capable of understanding,”(225). This moment of enlightenment helps Quenton realize what it takes to be the best runner that he can be.
In conclusion, Quenton Cassidy is the manifestation of the qualities of the ideal runner. Once A Runner gives a paragon for runners to aspire to. It teaches a lesson that all people come to learn. The harder one works, the greater the reward.
Just read Once A Runner for the second time and wish I would have found it in high school or college. Great piece of work.
Check out Again to Carthage and Racing the Rain too. OAR is the best but the other 2 are enjoyable.