I just finished reading Paul Duffau's novel Finishing Kick. it's a great book. I wrote up this little review on Amazon:
In his novel, Finishing Kick, Paul Duffau captures all the effort, dedication, beauty and, above all, teamwork, of high school cross country. For most young runners, high school cross country is the pinnacle and climax of their running experience. A relative handful of young high school runners earn college scholarships, and just a tiny handful of these go on to additional running success after college. However, the vast majority of both distance running's superstars and its "also-rans" can look back on their high school cross country years and recognize that those were some of the happiest, most fulfilling times of their lives. In Finishing Kick, author Duffau, a man in his 50s, is somehow able to channel the hearts and minds of the teenage girls who comprise the Cloverland High School Cross Country team. Duffau's protagonist, young Callie, a high school senior, is not the fastest runner on her Cloverland High School cross country team. She's not even the second or third fastest. However, there is something in Callie that "Doc," her very perceptive coach, can see. What Doc sees is leadership, so he makes her the team captain. Callie's never been a leader, but now she's in charge of leading a team of mostly better runners, some of whom have very strong and conflicting personalities. Cloverland High has never been to the Washington State Championship. But one day at practice, Callie tells her teammates that not only can they make it to the State Championship, they can win it and dethrone perennial State Champion Fairchild Academy. Can Callie pull everyone together? If so, it's going to take very hard work, cohesive teamwork, and, as Doc says, a touch of luck. I highly recommend this book to runners and non-runners alike.
Here's the link: