And Then the Vulture Eats You: True Tales About Ultramarathons and Those Who Run Them - Review

If you're reading this, you're probably a runner. Maybe you like getting out in nature. Maybe it's your break from the kids, from work, your alternative to therapy. Maybe you're a road racer. Maybe you ran in high school or college and it's as deep a habit as brushing your teeth. Or maybe you just jog, as one of my friend says, so you can eat cheese and drink beer and not feel guilty about it.

But ultramarathons? Despite the growth of oddball and novelty running events (relays, mud races, and so forth), ultras are still the genuine lunatic fringe. So what would the 99% of runners have to gain from reading this book? The same thing that all of us gain when we push ourselves in sport: self-knowledge.

Stepping up to ultra-running can be daunting at times but after reading these stories you come to realise the joy awaiting you in the miles ahead. I recommend this more than other "How to" books for anyone who runs far. You'll be amazed and inspired.

The best writers in the sport of running describe the last frontier of long-distance events: races longer than a marathon.

James Shapiro begins by relating with heart-rending detail his experiences in a six-day race in "Swifts on the Wing." In "To the Limit and Beyond," Kenny Moore takes you through the Great Hawaiian Footrace, a horrendous six-day ordeal that seemingly changes his life. Don Kardong, one of the wittiest and most personable writers in the sport, in "Le Grizz" goes the fifty-mile distance at the infamous race. Ed Ayres, former editor of Running Times, takes on the Western States 100 in "Wings of Icarus," and the event turns out to be a kind of catharsis in his life. In "Road Warriors," Hal Higdon's report on his group's attempt to run across the state of Indiana is a lighthearted, self-imposed challenge that turns into a spiritual odyssey. Tom Hart attempts to run a solo thirty-seven-miler on his thirty-seventh birthday, which reveals that an ultra is more than a feat of endurance, it is a journey into self. John L. Parker, Jr. ends with "And Then the Vulture Eats You," an uproarious analysis of ultra runners.

A book for all ultra runners, and for curious "normal" runners.