“The journey is always the destination, not the time, distance, pace and other stats that your watch feeds you”.
Brian Metzler.
We got this book at a time when most of us had traveling impeded, at some level or another. It was the chance to let the mind travel, as the book says, to some of the most “epic runs of the world”.
The book comprises runs in every continent, so even if you are not a runner and/or traveller probably there is still the chance of having one of them not very far from you. You have 200 to choose from.
Some of the runs are proper races, encompassing all distances and levels: Easy, Harder and Epic, according to the classification used in the book. Everyone has the possibility of running one. But there are also other non-racing runs included, usually chosen because of the surroundings, going from amazing landscapes, to waterfronts, coastal paths and many more.
Every chapter is focused on one run explained in depth by an author, accompanied by other 3 thematically similar races explained more briefly. Accompanying the explanations there is a short and useful informative section with advices on how to get to the course or where to sleep. Additionally, complementing the text there are very beautiful pictures, sometimes at double page. That would be a good reason to go for the paperback book instead of choosing its electronic version.
From the 50 races explained in more detail America and Europe are the best represented continents, with 17 and 13 races respectively. Among them some very well-known races: Badwater 135, Barkley Marathon or the Boston Marathon. Asia only had 8 races in this list, the same than Oceania, and ahead of African 4 epic runs.
Wherever you have run before, you will always find a “dream run” to add to your bucket list: Who would not want to run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa? Or the Athens Marathon departing from the mythical town of Marathon? Or a race so extreme as the North Pole Marathon, if you can afford its hefty registration of 16000€?
A great addition to your running library. If you can´t travel now, this book will offer you an alternative, and new ideas for your next running adventure.
Advice 1: never forget to pack your running shoes in your next trip. You don´t know if an epic run is waiting there for you.
Advice 2: go for the paperback version of the book.
