Customer Reviews

5k Runner

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For any child who feels sucked into an activity by forces he can't control, 5K Runner should become a sort of pocket handbook. OK, right. It's too big for most pockets. But it tucks nicely into a backpack, and the hero's desire to be honest about who he is should fit any whole person's comfort zone.

The problem comes when trespassers -- parents, older siblings, friends, teachers -- insist, without taking a child's feelings into consideration, that he be or do a certain thing. In 5K Runner, Jeff, a sixth-grader, says "Enough of that!" in the nicest possible way. Best of all, he follows through with his passion.

Jeff's family lives and dies by football. His two older brothers are gridiron stars. His father, who never got the chance to play, experiences the game through them. A friend since third grade talks of little more than how wonderful life will be when he and Jeff make the starting team.

But Jeff has doubts. He tosses the ball around with his brothers, and he appears to have the right stuff...except for the desire. He's magically drawn elsewhere. Then he spies an application form for an upcoming 5K race. A well-known high school runner who sees him in the park and helps him train also encourages him by telling him how fast he is.

Once Jeff decides that the cross-country team is his bailiwick, he has only one more hurdle to jump: informing his family and friends. Cross-country is a fall sport, like football. He can't do both. Mostly he dreads family members' reactions, and puts off telling them as long as possible.

5K Runner tosses out important messages for children and adults. If only we could all learn our lessons in sixth grade, and be as resolute as Jeff.

If you are runner or know a runner this would be a great book to read. The writer made you feel as if you were running the race with Jeff. I read it in one afternoon. It was very well written.