First Marathons [Kindle Edition]

Gail Waesche Kislevitz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

“Inspiring reading.” —The Wall Street Journal

“One of the scariest things about running a marathon for the first time isn’t the distance, the muscle pain, the chafing, or the blisters. It’s not knowing what’s going to happen. That’s why this disarmingly honest collection of first-time accounts is so refreshing.” —Runner’s World UK

First Marathons is the collected stories of 37 runners, told in their own words, describing the experience of running their first marathon. Everything is covered, from the early flickerings of desire, all the way to full-blown obsession—the training, the food, the emotions, every mile of this incredible journey. First Marathons is the best instruction book you will ever find, because you learn from the heartfelt life experience of others. Illumination and inspiration are on every page.
These runners are old and young, fat and thin, men and women. Some are famous (like Grete Waitz, Ted Corbitt, and Bill Rodgers), and others are just ordinary people —all of whom have achieved something truly extraordinary. Their collective message: anyone can run a marathon; everyone should. It will change your life forever.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 1613 KB
• Publisher: Breakaway Books (March 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004Q9TOPI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,754 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #81 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Advice & How-to > Exercise & Fitness > Running & Jogging
  • #86 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Individual Sports > Running & Jogging

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!, December 16, 1999

By 

J. Burcham "jcburcham" (Olathe, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Marathons (Paperback)

I want to buy this book for everyone I know because I firmly believe, after reading this book and having run my first marathon, that ANYONE can do it. I became so involved in the stories of these people, I couldn't put the book down and when I reached the end, I wanted more. So I ran my own marathon. I opened the book again, after I'd run the 26.2 mile monster, and randomly picked one of the stories...I started to cry because it suddenly meant so much to me. If you read this book, not only will you want to run a marathon, you'll believe you can make it happen.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling stories, inspiring reading, August 20, 2000

By 

Oren Mason (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: First Marathons (Paperback)

First Marathons is simply the accounts of many different folks from elite (i.e. professional) runners to talented amateurs to ordinary folks. It seems at first that it would be interesting primarily to serious runners who have or will soon run a marathon. It is that, but surprisingly, it is so much more. This is a book for anyone who wishes to be inspired by quiet heroes and unsung heroics.

Why would anyone want to run 26 miles? Here are many answers from many different people. They are moving to read, not because the author is a gifted story-teller, but because the courage, humility, and conviction of her subjects is so clear that it shines through even when the retelling lacks those qualities in itself. Some people set out to run the marathon to change themselves. More don't understand their reasons for embarking on the journey but find that in the training and completion of this epic that they are forever changed.

Approximately 1 million Americans have run a marathon. I've run two. It's difficult to explain in a few words why those two painful, arduous days are two of the happiest days of my life. After you read this book, you will begin to understand why. If you are one of the lucky ones who has "been there, done that" the recollections should renew the wonder and pride you felt at your first finish line. If you are one of the people who has ever wondered that you might someday do this crazy thing, beware! This book is more likely to set you off on the training road than all the running "how-to" books you could buy at Amazon.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Marathons, September 1, 2000

By 

Ingrid M. Miller (Irvine, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: First Marathons (Paperback)

On the plus side, this book is a must of you are planning to run a marathon. It offers interesting perspectives on the race and those that run it. On the down side, it is full of "typical" stories about people overcoming hardships. It gets sappy after awhile. Most of the stories are about people who decided to do the race on a whim and did it mostly unprepared. After reading this you think you can just go out an run one yourself...prepared or not.

I wish there were more stories about the challenge and difficulty of the training process.