by Tom Coyne
First published 2013
Tom Coyne, bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland, abandons his golf clubs for running shoes and sets an ambitious goal: completing his first marathon. Despite a lifelong hatred of exercise, he commits to the 2010 Marathon de Paris. Coyne assembles an unlikely team of fitness outcasts, offering them a free trip to France as incentive. His recruits include a beer-loving Brit, a breast cancer survivor, and a waitress who smokes two packs daily. None are distance runners, none train regularly, and none are in good shape. Coyne documents their transformation from couch potatoes to endurance athletes while exploring how modern technology has commercialized running. He investigates high-tech supplements, advanced footwear, and GPS tracking devices that have created a profitable industry around the sport. The book examines both the science behind marathon training and the psychology that drives people to punish their bodies for 26.2 miles.
Genres: adventure, sports, non-fiction, biography-memoir, health, fitness
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: France, Paris
Period: 2010
304 pages · Hardcover · Gotham Books