Finding Their Stride: A Team of Young Runners and Their Season of Triumph

Rating:
Summary: Fun reading
Review: As a cross country coach and runner, I found this book appealing on several levels. It is an easy read and it shows the joys of running to run, not just to win. The style was very descriptive, but it gave a unique and original twist to the book. That is one thing about distance runners . . . they all have a unique and original twist!

Rating:
Summary: Fun reading
Review: As a cross country coach and runner, I found this book appealing on several levels. It is an easy read and it shows the joys of running to run, not just to win. The style was very descriptive, but it gave a unique and original twist to the book. That is one thing about distance runners . . . they all have a unique and original twist!

Rating:
Summary: Good topic, awful prose
Review: As a runner and Cross Country Coach I am always looking for books that have to do with my avocation. I found this book easy to read and entertaining. My only fault with it is the lack of a forward or afterword to help fill in some of the gaps in the narrative. For example, the rear cover talks about this being the coach's first season but that is not apparent in the book itself. I will definitely pass this book on to my runners who will probably find something of themselves in it.

Rating:
Summary: Not all that Unique
Review: First of all I enjoyed reading Ms. Pont's book. I too am also a runner and Cross Country Coach. Her description of a season's worth of experiences is not all that unusal when it comes to the typical High School team. The one real problem I had with the book was the omission of some type of forward or afterword. The rear cover talks about this as being her first season of coaching but I did not gather that from the narrative. Did she change the names of her athletes? A little more backround info would have been nice. She hints at that but does not say for sure. I will definitely recommend this to my athletes as a work that they could perhaps find something of themselves in.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring and exhilarating
Review: I have to admit up-front I'm a former high school cross country teammate of Sally Pont's. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It brought me right back to the crisp fall days of my too-long-ago high school years. Her descriptions of the runners, their struggles, and the realities of being a teenage athlete were just beautiful. I'm still a (very slow) runner and this book brought me some renewed enthusiasm for this beautiful and special sport.

Rating:
Summary: Missed Oppourtunity
Review: There are so many good running books. Don't waste your time with this poor effort. Ms. Pont's prose is passable but she has no feel for the sport of cross country. A very poor effort.