Boston Marathon: The First Century of the World's Premier Running Event

Rating:
Summary: Endurance runners: men, women, or DEVO?
Review: Endurance running is a petty form of evil, but I can't even decide whether it's pettiness is a factor in mitigation or in aggravation. I guess that running a marathon or triathlon is not quite as foul as burning down an orphanage.

Tom Derderian has it all here: hundred years of petty evil, as of 1996. There are marathons and ultras all over the world, but the Boston Marathon is supposed to be the granddaddy of them all. This suggests that Mort Sahl was right, and that Darwin was wrong. Endurance travelers have declined in quality since the days of Paul Revere.

The subject matter of this book doesn't even merit one star, but I guess that the completeness with which the subject is covered might be a minor saving grace.

'Complete' doesn't mean even-handed, of course. The map of the route through Boston taken by the runners is featured in this book. But there is no mention of all of the honest people, over 100 years, in Boston and elsewhere, minding their own business, whose business was deterred because their normal routes were closed to them in order to accommodate gaggles of smug, self-righteous, human spare parts with numbers on their waists and noses in the air ('How fit we are, and how pathetic you are - God has given us the RIGHT to delay and inconvenience you').

Still, there isn't anything so vile about a marathon runner with pretensions of fitness that an early death by natural causes can't Fixx. And, by the way, guess which famous marathon runner is never even mentioned in this book as an example of the possible connection between marathoning and heart failure.

Yes, this book propagates the myth that the ability to run a marathon is some sort of indicia of physical fitness. Bill Rodgers has the chutzpah to suggest, in the text, that 'the marathon is the king of sports'. Oh, you dog!

The studies vary, but there are enough case histories of marathon runners dying of brain cancer and heart failure (of course, these are not alluded to in this book) to cause one to suspect that the ability to complete a marathon is NOT an ultimate test of physical fitness - or even a sport at all - so much as it is a 'knack'. The ability to open a beer bottle with one's teeth is also a 'knack', but at least its practitioners tend to mind their own business and don't promote themselves as athletes.

They don't promote themselves as idols either, but Derderian gives us stories from the two World Wars in a vain attempt to convince the discerning reader that an endurance athlete can be a war hero - this is presumably also in furtherance of the fitness myth (but surprisingly enough, he disparages the legend of Pheidippides). Yet when was the last time that any military recruiter set up shop at a marathon finish line?

Maybe it was faintly possible for a marathoner to become a military hero in the days of Bill Kennedy and Sidney Hatch, but it's scarcely conceivable now as the 'sport' becomes the province of the yuppies.

The photos in this book, especially the more recent ones, probably tell us more than the author would have us know about the de-evolution of the marathon runner. And the picture on the front cover is fairly typical of them: there's the sexless Joan Benoit crossing the finish line with her right fist pumped high in a fit of masculine ardor. Due to the peculiar physical requirements that make the 'ideal' endurance runner and the attitudes that such individuals conventionally assume, endurance races themselves are a race of the androgynous - featuring skinny, un-muscular, passive leisure-class males, motivated by a peculiar form of vanity, and flat-chested masculinized sneering leisure-class females, motivated by penis envy and hate-male.

Shoot, look at the guy whose picture is on the last page. All that I see are teeth on a skeletal frame in clothing. That's the author, folks - a marathoner himself.

Interestingly enough, this book ends at the cusp of a new era in the marathon freak-show - the passing of the torch from arrogant yuppies to emaciated Nigerians who seem even leaner and hungrier than those they are surpassing. This development was just starting to unfold when the author wrote the chapter called 'The Jinx and the Mad Africans', and we're still awaiting reports from the field on how our own home-grown plutocratic pasta-chompers respond to being outperformed by Third-Worlders.

Needless to say, the moral uplift that Derderian attempts to invoke in his Afterword is completely inappropriate, given the banal immorality of endurance races and the athletes who run them. The postscript to every endurance race and the epitaph of every runner was best expressed by Ray Garraty, Walker No. 47, from Stephen King's 'The Long Walk': 'I was one in a million. I wasn't bright enough to realize the circus fat lady is, too'.

Rating:
Summary: Endurance runners: men, women, or DEVO?
Review: Endurance running is a petty form of evil, but I can�t even decide whether it�s pettiness is a factor in mitigation or in aggravation. I guess that running a marathon or triathlon is not quite as foul as burning down an orphanage.

Tom Derderian has it all here: hundred years of petty evil, as of 1996. There are marathons and ultras all over the world, but the Boston Marathon is supposed to be the granddaddy of them all. This suggests that Mort Sahl was right, and that Darwin was wrong. Endurance travelers have declined in quality since the days of Paul Revere.

The subject matter of this book doesn�t even merit one star, but I guess that the completeness with which the subject is covered might be a minor saving grace.

�Complete� doesn�t mean even-handed, of course. The map of the route through Boston taken by the runners is featured in this book. But there is no mention of all of the honest people, over 100 years, in Boston and elsewhere, minding their own business, whose business was deterred because their normal routes were closed to them in order to accommodate gaggles of smug, self-righteous, human spare parts with numbers on their waists and noses in the air (�How fit we are, and how pathetic you are - God has given us the RIGHT to delay and inconvenience you�).

Still, there isn�t anything so vile about a marathon runner with pretensions of fitness that an early death by natural causes can�t Fixx. And, by the way, guess which famous marathon runner is never even mentioned in this book as an example of the possible connection between marathoning and heart failure.

Yes, this book propagates the myth that the ability to run a marathon is some sort of indicia of physical fitness. Bill Rodgers has the chutzpah to suggest, in the text, that �the marathon is the king of sports�. Oh, you dog!

The studies vary, but there are enough case histories of marathon runners dying of brain cancer and heart failure (of course, these are not alluded to in this book) to cause one to suspect that the ability to complete a marathon is NOT an ultimate test of physical fitness - or even a sport at all - so much as it is a �knack�. The ability to open a beer bottle with one�s teeth is also a �knack�, but at least its practitioners tend to mind their own business and don�t promote themselves as athletes.

They don�t promote themselves as idols either, but Derderian gives us stories from the two World Wars in a vain attempt to convince the discerning reader that an endurance athlete can be a war hero - this is presumably also in furtherance of the fitness myth (but surprisingly enough, he disparages the legend of Pheidippides). Yet when was the last time that any military recruiter set up shop at a marathon finish line?

Maybe it was faintly possible for a marathoner to become a military hero in the days of Bill Kennedy and Sidney Hatch, but it�s scarcely conceivable now as the �sport� becomes the province of the yuppies.

The photos in this book, especially the more recent ones, probably tell us more than the author would have us know about the de-evolution of the marathon runner. And the picture on the front cover is fairly typical of them: there�s the sexless Joan Benoit crossing the finish line with her right fist pumped high in a fit of masculine ardor. Due to the peculiar physical requirements that make the �ideal� endurance runner and the attitudes that such individuals conventionally assume, endurance races themselves are a race of the androgynous - featuring skinny, un-muscular, passive leisure-class males, motivated by a peculiar form of vanity, and flat-chested masculinized sneering leisure-class females, motivated by penis envy and hate-male.

Shoot, look at the guy whose picture is on the last page. All that I see are teeth on a skeletal frame in clothing. That�s the author, folks - a marathoner himself.

Interestingly enough, this book ends at the cusp of a new era in the marathon freak-show - the passing of the torch from arrogant yuppies to emaciated Nigerians who seem even leaner and hungrier than those they are surpassing. This development was just starting to unfold when the author wrote the chapter called �The Jinx and the Mad Africans�, and we�re still awaiting reports from the field on how our own home-grown plutocratic pasta-chompers respond to being outperformed by Third-Worlders.

Needless to say, the moral uplift that Derderian attempts to invoke in his Afterword is completely inappropriate, given the banal immorality of endurance races and the athletes who run them. The postscript to every endurance race and the epitaph of every runner was best expressed by Ray Garraty, Walker No. 47, from Stephen King�s �The Long Walk�: �I was one in a million. I wasn�t bright enough to realize the circus fat lady is, too�.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Collection of Boston Marathon History--Run on!
Review: I picked this book up while getting ready to run in the 104th running of Boston and it truly heightened the whole experience. It enabled you to pick out the landmarks throughout the course (Kenmore Square, Newton Hills, the 25 mile Citgo Sign, the screaming Wellesley girls/I high-fived one of them, the Brookline cemetery in the netherworlds of the last 5-6 miles) and most of all get a good grasp and appreciation on the history that had run before.

It's amazing what a complete detailed history the author was able to put together and how he was able to pick out a unique individual aspect from each race. What stands out are the American Indians running at the turn of last century with Tom Longboat, Clarence DeMar's dominance in the 20's, Kelly Senior and Junior, Bill Rodgers, Ibrahim Hussein, and Cosmas Ndeti. They are all there with details from the race, details from the runner's lives, details of the victories, and more interesting details of the not quite victorious. What really stands out is the focus on the plight of women runners in the marathon and how difficult it was for them to break the barrier in the 60's to enter the race. Bobbie Gibb, Kathrine Switzer, and Sara Mae Berman were true pioneers and had to face harassment from race officials to even be allowed to run in the prestigious Boston Athletic Association great race. Perhaps my favorite story though is that of Rosie Ruiz in 1980 that jumped the barrier from the ranks of the spectators and ran the last miles and took credit for the women's victory for a contentious period of time. She proved a little mentally unbalanced and to this day swears she won the race. This book captures all those quirky details and puts together a great history of what the 26.2-mile jaunt in Boston is all about.

I hold back giving this 5-stars because the non-runners may not find this book so engaging as myself, but if you care about the sport and especially if you are getting ready to run Boston don't miss picking up this book. Boston only gets more interesting year from year as a South Korean broke the Kenyan dominance last year and maybe just maybe Fatuma Roba will take the laurel wreath away from Catherine Ndereba.

The people of Boston love this race as is evidenced by not a single stretch of the course passing by without throngs of spectators handing you oranges, water, beer. Consequently the rest of the world has caught on to the enthusiasm of the Bostonians, as Boston has become the marathon to run. There is prestige, there is sweat, there is heartache and heartbreak, and there is a wonderful history all captured in this book. Run on.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Collection of Boston Marathon History--Run on!
Review: I picked this book up while getting ready to run in the 104th running of Boston and it truly heightened the whole experience. It enabled you to pick out the landmarks throughout the course (Kenmore Square, Newton Hills, the 25 mile Citgo Sign, the screaming Wellesley girls/I high-fived one of them, the Brookline cemetery in the netherworlds of the last 5-6 miles) and most of all get a good grasp and appreciation on the history that had run before.

It's amazing what a complete detailed history the author was able to put together and how he was able to pick out a unique individual aspect from each race. What stands out are the American Indians running at the turn of last century with Tom Longboat, Clarence DeMar's dominance in the 20's, Kelly Senior and Junior, Bill Rodgers, Ibrahim Hussein, and Cosmas Ndeti. They are all there with details from the race, details from the runner's lives, details of the victories, and more interesting details of the not quite victorious. What really stands out is the focus on the plight of women runners in the marathon and how difficult it was for them to break the barrier in the 60's to enter the race. Bobbie Gibb, Kathrine Switzer, and Sara Mae Berman were true pioneers and had to face harassment from race officials to even be allowed to run in the prestigious Boston Athletic Association great race. Perhaps my favorite story though is that of Rosie Ruiz in 1980 that jumped the barrier from the ranks of the spectators and ran the last miles and took credit for the women's victory for a contentious period of time. She proved a little mentally unbalanced and to this day swears she won the race. This book captures all those quirky details and puts together a great history of what the 26.2-mile jaunt in Boston is all about.

I hold back giving this 5-stars because the non-runners may not find this book so engaging as myself, but if you care about the sport and especially if you are getting ready to run Boston don't miss picking up this book. Boston only gets more interesting year from year as a South Korean broke the Kenyan dominance last year and maybe just maybe Fatuma Roba will take the laurel wreath away from Catherine Ndereba.

The people of Boston love this race as is evidenced by not a single stretch of the course passing by without throngs of spectators handing you oranges, water, beer. Consequently the rest of the world has caught on to the enthusiasm of the Bostonians, as Boston has become the marathon to run. There is prestige, there is sweat, there is heartache and heartbreak, and there is a wonderful history all captured in this book. Run on.

Rating:
Summary: As satisfying as a marathon PR!
Review: Running fanatics will become as obssessed with reading this book as they are with completing their daily workouts. Derderian combines rich, journalistic descriptions of each year's race with engaging biographies of individual runners -- winners and non-winners alike -- many of whose stories are chronicled across successive chapters. The book should be especially pleasing to those interested in reliving the era of American marathon dominance in the 1970s and 1980s: they'll not only get to read more about Bill Rodgers and Joan Benoit Samuelson, but will also be treated to vivid and inspiring accounts of perennial also rans like Tom Fleming and Patti Lyons Castalano. Equally fascinating are the tales of the Japanese, Finnish, and Kenyan runners who have enjoyed their own periods of preeminence over the years. If you are training for an upcoming marathon, you should definitely keep this volume close at hand for motivation.