Customer Reviews

Going the Distance: One Man's Journey to the End of His Life

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book when it first came out in 1996. I have now just gotten around tor reading it (1999). I am bad about putting off things I suspect are going to be very good (Delayed gratification).

One of the great pioneers of not just running, but healthy living via serious play, George Sheehan, wrote a book that is the final work of his life. Subtitled, One Man's Journey To The End Of His Life," Sheehan has his eyes wide open, avoiding clinging to pure emotionalism and the could-of-should-of-would-of mentality, looking deep into his own felings and observations.

This book is not for everyone. It is for those that choose to face life and death with their eyes open -- willing to face themselves and what makes them tick.

Just as you cannot put a bandaid on cancer, George Sheehan doesn't try to cover up his humaness. He fully embraces what he was, what he is now, and acknowledges the similarity between the very young and the very old.

Unfortunately, this book will hard to find if you have an interest . . . Long overdue for a reprint.

G.R. Ford

I would give this book 10 stars if I could. First, I should mention this is *not* a book about running any more than Moby-Dick is a book about whales. Rather, it is a discourse on how best to live one's life, written by someone near the end of his. I read this every year, and every year I'm amazed at how wise Dr. Sheehan was. Like Shakespeare or the Bible, it opens up to me the more I read it, and every time I learn something new, if only because I've changed and understand it better through experience. It helps me measure my own growth. I can't express what an influence it has been.

While George Sheehan is best known for his expertise in running, he may be more accurately described as a philosopher than a runner. Going the Distance is a wonderful journey through a dying man's thoughts and reflections on dealing with the end of his life. Diagnosed with prostate cancer, Sheehan embarks upon a journey to battle the disease, and then come to terms with his own mortality when the battle is lost. As per his usual work, there is the obvious emphasis on running, but even the non-runner will enjoy this book. Not merely a book for "jocks", Sheehan once again displays his artful writing style and philisophical nature. A must read for the runner, walker and couch potato alike!

This was the first running book I ever read, I am trying to read all of his books. But some are hard to come across. A touching story of a man and such a stong devotion of the meaning "life," god bless him.