Book Review #3: Once A Runner

Third in a series of 8. The book for this review is courtesy of Albert Li: John L. Parker Jr.'s Once a Runner.

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I have an affinity to running. This doesn't mean I am one, at least not in the athletic sense. I habitually run for exercise, but I have only once run a 5K--and that because I had Cru friends running that same race with me, not for a competitive time. Some of my good Bay Area friends take it seriously, though, and one of my best friends helps coach a Sacramento track team, so in their wake I've begun to step up my involvement. A book that promised further inspiration? Why, sure.

The book concerns one Quenton Cassidy, mile runner at Southeastern U in the Vietnam-protest era. He is the track team's captain and enjoys all the perks of living fraternity-style with the team (while describing house in-jokes, Parker occasionally lost me in obscure prose). His left-wing views and relaxed attitude toward life are juxtaposed with the stodgy conservatism of the athletic department's leaderships, but the real contrast is one of dedication. The football team captain is painted as a flabby, nepotistic cad; Cassidy as a lean, stoic competitor.

His drive attracts the eye of graduate student and Olympic medalist Bruce Denton, who mentors him through the "Trial of Miles": daily long, repetitive jogs. Denton's encouragement becomes more individual when Cassidy runs afoul of the athletic department by offering him the chance to live as a jogging hermit and train obsessively while he still has a shot at record-setting glory.

The book's clear strength is its grasp on Cassidy's mental game, culled from the author's personal experience as a 4:06 miler in his youth. Some of the expressions were beyond my grasp, but the import was clear: dedication to the uttermost, to the point that it becomes routine. Parker apparently sees this as an almost animal drive, and repeated metaphors attempt to drive this point home, so much so that I wondered whether this was an indirect case for mankind's macro-evolution from beasts. But the skillfully handled relationships, particularly those among runners, humanize the zeal and sometimes affected prose. As in real life, it's the camaraderie that proves the most compelling case for athletic endeavors.


SUMMARY

Appreciated the psychological description of competition-grade athletic training and well-written bonds of friendship.

Disliked the extreme subtlety of certain chapters and overuse of animal imagery.

I would recommend this book to people who are at least sympathetic to sports, enjoy introspective writing and are either experienced readers or willing to read large chunks at a time.

Disclaimer: This book contains strong profanity and sexual immorality.