Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Paperback – Bargain Price, April 2, 2013

Being an avid runner, an addict for sure, I discovered this book when looking to read something from the ultramarathonman, Dean Karnazes. This book reviewed well, so knowing nothing of Scott Jurek, I ordered the Amazon version. I was immediately drawn into the mostly chronoligical tale of his life and his race experiences expertly co-authored by Steve Friedman. Although Scott is a legend with an amazing resume of ultra race wins, he is also a human being with a very human experience that many can relate to. I appreciate that he bared all and found it very easy to bond with his vulnerability. I think his references to his mother got me the most choked up, since she inspired him with her tragically long battle with MS which eventually took her life at an early age. Scott adventured to places that most of us can only dream of, driven by his deep desire to push beyond all limits long after most have thrown in the towel. The spritual angle of the book I found most appealing; going beyond the physical realm of running into the largely mental realm of ultras. I also was very inspired by his veganism, having been a vegan for nearly 10 years in the 90s, and how he used his purefied diet to help propel him to amazing running feats and rapid recoveries. As a runner, I can easily say that is an area I could improve on, I tend to use high mileage as license to pound bad calories rather than considering a much higher quality diet as Scott espouses. The recipes were a great touch (looked delicious, can't wait to try) and I loved the nuggets of running advice; another great aspect of this book. Overall, extremely well crafted, by many talented hands, first and foremost by Scott himself who provides the "meat" by his amazing journey of nearly 40 years and counting. Great work -- highly recommended to all!

Scott Jurek is known for two things, primarily: following a vegan diet, and running (and winning) ultramarathons. So when Scott Jurek writes a book called "Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness", one should expect all other aspects of Jurek's life rendered erroneous. If you are looking for detailed descriptions of Jurek's relationship with his sarcastic and rebellious best friend, ex-wife, father, mother, or current girlfriend, you will have to wait for his next book. A book which, I might add, will seem completely irrelevant and pointless coming from a man known primarily for being a vegan and running ultramarathons.Conversely, Scott Jurek is not known for being a writer. The writing is simple and often repetitive, like a mantra one might silently chant while fighting inner demons and physical fatigue during a 100+ mile race. A solitary sport, running leaves one plenty of time for contemplation. Jurek revisits the same themes and even the same phrases over and over again, which can lead to some tedious reading. However, the repetition actually helped create a consistent narrative - Jurek's running became the inner and outer representation of his quest to answer the big questions in life.As someone who has been known to pound the pavement from time to time, I can appreciate the mental fortitude required to accomplish even a 3-miler, let alone an ultramarathon. Jurek clearly knows what it means to endure. His stories are genuine and honest, and though he tends to focus on his race victories and underplay the defeats, the victories are the better and more triumphant stories - the ones that recall the power of the human spirit. Plus, Jurek is known for winning, not losing.The vegan recipes and running tips at the end of each chapter remind the reader that the purpose of this novel is not just a narcissistic recount of Jurek's greatness - he also wishes to educate and inspire. Indeed, after reading this book, not only do I have a fresh variety of tasty vegan dishes to mix into the weekly meal routine, but I'm also experiencing a renewed vigor to get out there and log some miles.

The book is a catchy read: easily written with a mix of action, life philosophy and culinary. Hence the five stars - I kept on reading every spare moment of the day I could find. I am an aspiring runner, not ultra- (at least yet), but a daily running amateur. I am also interested in healthy lifestyle, mindfulness and minimalism, hence my interest in Scott's thoughts.That said, as a source of an inspiration to my running and plant-based diet, Scott's book had somewhat of a mixed impact:- running: Scott does inspire to run and enjoy the spiritual side of running. However, his professionalism and devotion to running can be hardly matched by "occasional" runners like me. And since I have not done endurance training from childhood to my late 30s, I can hardly connect to the levels of performance that the book talks about (despite some entry-level advice that the book provides on techniques etc). Therefore at some stage of the book my read changed from admiration-only to admiration mixed with discouragement, because the performance Scott writes about can hardly be matched by someone like me (blame me for lack of self-confidence, though try to run 165 miles in 24 hours).- plant based diet: the book did inspire me to learn more about plant based diets and to actually try it out. I am now going through this fundamental change of lifestyle and am enjoying it quite a bit (with all the daily doubts about my ability to continue). That said, Scott's recipies were overly complicated to me - I am an amateur cook only, thus I like to follow recipies very closely, and I also live outside US/UK, thus products I can find in stores here are quite different from those in Scott's recipies. With this, starting from Scott's recipy 3 onwards I just skimmed them but really paid no attention, thinking that they are quite useless given my skills and products.So overall a great read, hope you enjoy it!Best regards,D.