my guess is that the book will have much different impression if read prior to the internet boom or after, and if growing up in a smaller town or a big city.
having grown up in a smaller town, lived in the 70's, 80's and 90's and been a competitive runner I liked a lot of it. then again I also had a knack for going the extra mile in training and driving to the mountains for runs and even going camping just to get great hard spiritual runs in.
i don't think an 20 Y.O. cityboy in todays era would get as much out of it with all the stories and video content available at any moment online.