Identify About Books Once a Runner

Title	:	Once a Runner
Author	:	John L. Parker Jr.
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 226 pages
Published	:	May 1st 1999 by Cedarwinds (first published 1978)
Categories	:	Fiction. Sports. Fitness

Once a Runner Paperback | Pages: 226 pages

Explanation Conducive To Books Once a Runner

Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner; to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. It has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever written. Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author’s car, reading the book became a rite of passage for many runners, and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation.

Once a Runner is the story of Quenton Cassidy, a collegiate runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the political and cultural turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school’s athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes’ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life: a head-to-head match with the greatest miler in history. This audiobook is a rare insider’s account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners; an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one man’s quest to become a champion.

Specify Books In Favor Of Once a Runner

Original Title:	Once a Runner
ISBN:	0915297019 (ISBN13: 9780915297016)
Edition Language:	English
Setting:	United States of America Florida(United States)

Rating About Books Once a Runner

Ratings: 4.07 From 12141 Users | 1084 Reviews

Column About Books Once a Runner

One of my favorite novels. Very funny at times. This will really strike a chord for anyone who ran distance at the college level. Parker gets everything down from the dinnertime antics to the pre-race jitters and the absolute strangeness that goes along with identifying yourself as a long distance runner. A must read for anyone planning to run a marathon or who trains regularly. A great motivator for those days when you just can't seem to get out the door. Pick this up, read a chapter, and get

I am not totally sure how I feel about this book as a whole - but I loved the last quarter of it. The beginning nearly killed me with the authors seemingly needful sense to try to impress us with his constant use of obscure words. It nearly handicapped the book as each sentence read as though he used a book of synonyms to replace simpler everyday language to build up his writing? I very nearly gave up and just walked away.However, if you can plow through his obscure writing structure (and

I am not totally sure how I feel about this book as a whole - but I loved the last quarter of it. The beginning nearly killed me with the authors seemingly needful sense to try to impress us with his constant use of obscure words. It nearly handicapped the book as each sentence read as though he used a book of synonyms to replace simpler everyday language to build up his writing? I very nearly gave up and just walked away.However, if you can plow through his obscure writing structure (and

I read a review that said this is not a novel for non-runners.I'm not a runner and never have been a runner, but I couldn't put the book down. I love to be immersed in a world about which I know nothing, and this book was a revelation. Reading it was probably the closest I'll ever get to knowing what it must be like to be an athlete in top condition. To have demons that "make you want to run through the jungle . . . cover countryside at a clip, slide by in the night like a scuttling cloud . . .

One of the hardest books I've ever read, because there were words I had to translate. It took a lot of time to understand what I was reading. But I like it and I want to read it again in the future.

I can't tell if the runner in me is being biased, but that was a great book.

This is a good novel about elite racing (the main character is a competitive miler), but it is not about running casually or a love of running, or running for any reason other than to compete. It is mainly about how much a competitive athlete must sacrifice in order to dedicate his life to his sport. I didn't relate to a lot of that, and in fact the writer dismisses casual runners as unimportant:"His daily toil was arduous; satisfying on the whole, but not the bounding, joyous nature romp