Book Review: "Running Dark" by Jamie Freveletti

"Running Dark" reunites us with Emma Caldridge, the ultra-runner/chemist, whom we first met in "Running From the Devil." The action starts on the very first page when a bomb goes off while Ms. Caldridge is running South Africa's Commrades Marathon. In the ensuing mayhem, Emma is injected with some sort of wonder drug that boosts her endurance and allows her to finish the 56 mile race without the least bit of fatigue.

In the ensuing pages, an intricate tale involving Washington power brokers and a cruise ship under siege by Somali Pirates is woven. My hangup from Ms. Freveletti's first novel, "Running from the Devil" was that I felt many of the scenes were repetitious and far fetched. Every time Ms. Caldridge found herself in danger she was able to use her knowledge of botany and chemistry to narrowly escape.

Clearly Ms. Freveletti has matured as an author. "Running Dark" is well written and suspenseful. Ms. Caldridge's chemistry background is featured once at the climax of the book. I definitely recommend picking up a copy of "Running Dark." You will not be disappointed.

Special thanks to TK for providing me a copy of the book to read and review.  

Book Review "A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New York" By Liz Robbins

I recently finished reading "A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Street of New York." by Liz Robbins. Ms. Robbins has been a sportswriter for seventeen years—the last nine at the New York Times—she has covered marathons, the Olympics, tennis, and the NBA.

In "A Race Like No Other," Ms. Robbins tells the story of the 2007 New York City Marathon, which happened to be my first marathon. I finished that race in 4:21:57. The book intertwines the stories of the elite runners and "ordinary" runners with something to prove. We learn about Pam Rickard, a recovering alcoholic from Virginia, Harrie Baskt, a cancer survivor from Riverdale, New York, and many others. We are introduced to ordinary New Yorkers like Carmine Santoli who has been overseeing the same aid station in Brooklyn for 27 marathons and NYPD Officer John Codiglia who has been shouting words of encouragement to runners on the far corner of 7th Avenue and Central Park South. Lastly, we meet the likes of Percy Sutton, Ted Corbitt, and Fred Lebow who laid the foundation for what the New York City Marathon is today.

Ms. Robbins does a great job describing everything that makes the New York City Marathon the best race in the world. I could not put this book down. I found myself wanting to learn more about Paula Radcliffe, Martin Lel, and who knew that Hendrick Ramaala was the "class clown" of marathoning. He takes such a loosey goosey approach to competitive marathoning.

The New York City Marathon is a race every marathoner needs to run at least once. If you need convincing read this book.

P.S. I also recommend listening to Brandon's Marathon Podcast Episode 60 where Brandon interviews Ms. Robbins and to the Runner's Roundtable Podcast Episode 56 where Joe talks with Marci (who is also mentioned in Ms. Robbins' book) about this year's New York City Marathon.

Book Review: "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

I finished "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall over the weekend. For the most part, the book held my interest throughout. The book tells the story of the Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of super runners who live in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. Living among the tribe is a man knows as "Caballo Blanco (White Horse)." His dream is to put together a race involving the Tarahumara and an eclectic group of American runners. Without giving away too much of the plot, Mr. McDougall does a great job introducing the reader to the characters and how they came to be involved in this most unusual event. The climax of the book comes at the end when "Caballo Blanco's" dream is realized and the race is off and running. He does a great job putting the reader in the minds of the runners. He describes in great detail many of the highs and lows the runners experience during the race.

The story itself is great, but what is causing a stir in the running community is chapter 25, which after introducing you to "Barefoot Ted" in Chapter 24, goes on to talk about the evils of the modern running shoe industry. See, the Tarahumara run in these in flimsy sandals and their runners experience almost no injuries. This leads into a discussion about how since the invention of the modern running shoe, runners have been injured more because modern running shoes alter a runner's gait that is not natural and that the most natural way to run is barefoot.

While this part of the book is definitely interesting and food for thought, I don't think many runners will be giving up their Nikes, Asics, or Brooks to run barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers. I know that Brandon belongs to the school of forefoot running and is thinking of experimenting with Vibram Five Fingers, but most of us will continue to be heel strikers and will run in modern shoes. This topic of shoes will be discussed on the Runner's Roundtable Podcast on July, 1. The topic of barefoot running will be discussed on August 21 with John Woodward and Mr. McDougall will be a guest on the show as well.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the evolution of this race. The paraticipants are so diverse and unusual. At the very end of the book the reader also learns the identity of "Caballo Blanco" and how he ends up living with the Tarahumara. This was my first foray into running books and it did not disappoint.

Book Review: "Running from the Devil"

About a month or so ago, TK sent me an advance copy of "Running from the Devil" by Jamie Freveletti. Ms. Freveletti has an interesting background. She is a trial attorney, martial artist, and runner. She has crewed for an elite ultra-marathon runner at 50 mile, 100 mile, and twenty-four hour races across the country, and both practices and teaches Aikido.

I love a good thriller. Some of my favorite authors include, Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, Steve Berry, and Brian Haig so it goes without saying that I couldn't wait pick up Ms. Freveletti's debut novel. The book starts out with Emma Caldridge, a chemist at a Miami cosmetics company. Emma is on her to Bogota, Columbia to research a new plant for a potential product when her plane is hijacked and crashes into the Columbian Jungle. Emma is thrown far enough far the crash site to go undiscovered by the guerillas who take the survivors of the crash hostage. I don't want to give away too much of the book, but what ensues for the duration of the book is Emma, and eventually Cameron Sumner, a secret government agent, following the hostages and helping to secure their rescue. Like any good thriller, there is a consipiracy involving something Emma has in her possession that other people want.

Here are my thoughts on the book: for a debut novel, I liked it a lot. Like the authors I mentioned above, "Running from the Devil" had its share of high tech weaponry, covert missions, and conspiracies. What I loved was Emma was able to use her training as an endurance athlete and chemist to survive in the jungle. In fact she reminded me of McGyver who was able to survive and get out of trouble with a roll of duct tape. Emma uses her training as a chemist to nourish herself and to nurse Sumner back to health. One of my favorite parts was when Emma, covered in mud to fend off mosquitoes, had an encounter with the guerrillas. The guerrillas were scared off because they thought Emma was "El Chupacabra" which with the Latin American equivalent of big foot.

Now for my dislikes....there were parts of the book that read like a school kid wrote them. Also the way Emma and Sumner escape the their encounters with the guerrillas is very repitious. They get captured, take advantage of a small opportunity, and make a run for it. I also found it hard to believe that the guerrillas could figure out where in the jungle Emma and Sumner were hiding.

All in all, "Running from the Devil" is a solid debut novel. It has its flaws but it also had many good points as well. "Running from the Devil" is now available at your favorite bookstore. Hopefully her 2nd novel novel will feature Emma Caldridge was well. I'm a huge fan of books that feature a recurring character.