Do college/mid 20s runners still relate to "Once a Runner"?

When I was running in college, I thought that was a corny book for kids who hadn't learned to read real literature yet.

I think any runner can appreciate the storyline.

I guess that answers my question. In my day we saw it as the best description of the college running experience, something we struggled to put into words. Ya, its not high literature and some of the stuff in there is silly but it was relatable. A couple of decades ago no one gave two craps about distance runners and there wasn't a half marathon in your neck of the woods every other weekend. And 4 minutes meant you would be winning conference and running at NCAAs, maybe even USATF.

I was a high school runner in the mid 2000s, and my coach had a first addition copy he lent out. I might have been the only person on the planet who did not like it.

I found the writing style to be overly fluffy, and as a female runner, I couldn't relate to the time period where women weren't included as athletes. Some of the descriptions were relevant (particularly the last 100 of the mile being something you can't truly ever imagine in your head), but others were not.

One thing that's outdated about OAR is the notion that you have to absolutely kill yourself all the time and sacrifice everything in order to be great. We know now about rest, recovery, balance, and healthy eating (no, I was not downing big macs every day in training) and how important that is to being the best. No, you actually don't have to give up the love of your life in pursuit fo greatness either, actually the love of your life in your life will probably help you.

Perhaps it was the time period change but I related to Running with the Buffaloes a lot more. Same relentless "character" and the team dynamics were very relatable.

I think younger runners need to understand There is No Secret. Like Denton knew, like Cassidy found out.

With GPS watches, Strava, endless amounts of content that say "YOU NEED TO TRAIN LIKE THIS", there's so much running BS out there when there is really no secret. RUN.

Be consistent, stack weeks, months, years. Running mileage makes you an animal if you can take it, but listen to your body. When you line up on a start line you need to KNOW you're ready, not hope for a PR.

I did not even know about it when I ran in college in the 90s. Read it in my 40s. A lil corny at times, but from a miler's perspective, there may not be a better read. Surviving and tolerating CC, describing each lap, owning a competitor's soul when you trained through a race and beat him ... all spot on. This is a book that will hold up forever.

I liked Running with the Buffs as well but related less to Goucher than Cassidy. 100 miles a week in singles is just insane. Cassidy seemed like he could be an ordinary guy. Goucher as an ordinary guy would still be all American it seemed like, he's one of those rare super talents. The book is good and I enjoyed following a top team's season but it was overshadowed by the tragedy that occured.

Then it became Running with the Buffaloes, and even cornier and worse attempt at prose.

Turns out, the "secret" was don't murder yourself in training.

It can be that and still be one of maybe four books about running that isn't poorly written and mind-numbingly dull. The sequel is a little better-written and better overall, but Once a Runner is still running literature canon even if it's totally masturbatory.

I absolutely love our sport and owe everything in my life to it. I am sorry to say that when I read this book twenty years ago I did not like it at all. And that is saying a lot for me because other than Dean Karnazes book I can't think of another running book that I liked less and I have read them all.

I got all of that and more from reading (and re-reading) Herb Elliott's biography "The Golden Mile" as a high school student. A far better book and none of it was fiction.

I was just thinking about the book and this exact question yesterday. It was very popular when I ran in college 2004-2008, which overlapped my introduction to LetsRun. Teammates would pass around one old copy and it was hard to get ahold of one otherwise. The surge in popularity prompted the author to reissue the book in 2009, then came the prequel and sequel.

The book has a lot of flaws, sure, but there are still lines that stick with me. Like LetsRun, it's made for a very specific audience. It's kind of fun to read the Amazon reviews.

Lately, I've thought seriously about writing a screenplay adapted from the novel. My criticism of the actual book is similar to what others have said about the female characters, or lack thereof. It literally feels like half the story is missing. The "girlfriend just doesn't understand" trope doesn't fly with me. There is so much more to explore as far as the dynamics of their relationship and breakup. Of course there are sacrifices he has to make to get to a high level, but we don't see the other side of those sacrifices. I wouldn't go as dark as a movie like Whiplash, but enough more emotional depth to make it feel real and relatable to even non-runners.

Nobody claims it’s great lit but the story will resonate with distance runners ~forever.

Don't.

The girlfriend part adds nothing to the story.. it will just ruin it. Every story doesn't need a girlie angle to it.

Remember the movie Rounders? The critics made a big deal that once the girlfriend was out of the picture she was never heard of again. They thought that she should have been a continuing part of the story. What the critics didn't understand is that the disappeared girlfriend is exactly what made Rounders authentic..

Girlfriend gone? Okay, where's the next game? See?

My GF, in college at the time, loved it and said she could relate to it. She gave me her copy to read. I was older and despite being a runner, thought it was corny/dumb and couldn't understand why she related to it so much. Turns out she had much more drama than me in her life (including high school competition in running/skiing) growing up.