Customer Reviews

Running with Swords: The Adventures and Misadventures of an Irrepressible Canadian Fencing Champion

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This delightful look at the demanding world of Olympic athlete Sherraine Mackay will provide hours of insight and fun.Written in a fast paced enjoyable witty style this book should prove to be a delight for readers of all ages.Find out about the ups & downs of a dedicated amateur athlete who pays to compete around the globe. Witness the catalogue of sacrifices it takes to reach the top.This book should be an inspiration to all prospective Olympians and athletes of all ages and skill levels....run out and buy it today!

I have been looking forward to this book for a year, when I received it as a gift. I knew of Sherraine's fencing career, but not in great detail. I have fenced recreationally in the past and have kept up with the latest news and events.

This book chronicles the career of Sherraine McKay, from her childhood to the peak of Canadian Women's Epee. We start with Sherraine's introduction into the sport, her high school years, and eventually to the International competitions. She takes us through training, World Cup tournaments, and the Olympics.

I found the book enjoyable, but I think that is in part, due to my background in fencing. For the average person, without a fencing knowledge, this book would not be as interesting. I found some parts of the book to be slow, and at times the story jumped from topic to topic too much and aburptly for my taste. I enjoyed the chapters immediately preceeding the Olympics and also her experiences in the Olympic villages.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the wonderful sport of fencing and also the Olympic experience. However, for the mainstream reader this book may not be as interesting.

I am the kind of person who would NEVER pick up a book written by an athlete, am rarely interested in biographies and am wary of "inspirational" literature because of the amount of fluff out there.
However, this book crosses so many genres of literature, that it has appeal to all. It was rare to not read a few pages without a smile on my face and even let slip a few guffaws along the way. And i was inspired by her challenge not to let her sport define her and control her sense of value and worth, something we all face whether it be via money, our job or how we look. Overall an honest, humble and candid look inwards at herself and outwards at her environment, all with a great sense of humour that by the end of the book you feel like you have made a friend.

Any interested in the sport of fencing will find engrossing RUNNING WITH SWORDS: THE ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF THE IRREPRESSIBLE CANADIAN FENCING CHAMPION. Author Sherraine Mackay's Olympic dreams and efforts to chase them across Europe made her among the top ten women fencers in the world. From her personal upset in Greece to her success in leading her team to fourth place in the Olympics, RUNNING WITH SWORDS is both a personal memoir and a lively insider's account of the Olympic sports world.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch