Book: North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail
Iâm a marathon runner, but not an ultrarunner. Iâve only done one ultra (the American River 50 miler) and the combination of the training, race, and recovery was too much for me. But I love the idea of ultras.
I have several close friends who run ultras so I live vicariously through them. I love to watch documentaries about ultras, like the insane Barkley Marathons.
There are lots of ultra runners in Boulder. While Iâm not part of the scene, I follow them from a distance.
Scott Jurek is one of my heroic ultra characters in Boulder. I find his running accomplishments completely mind-bending. He is a great writer and I thoroughly enjoyed his previous book Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness. So, when I noticed his new book, North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail while wandering around in the Boulder Bookstore Saturday night, I grabbed it.
I read it Monday and Tuesday night, finishing it last night right before bedtime. I was simply awesome. Jurker (Scottâs nickname) wrote it with his wife Jenny. They used a really fun format â alternating sections within each chapter. The first half of the chapter was Jurkerâs view of what was going on (in his voice). The second half of the chapter was in Jennyâs voice. Each of them covered a wide range of experiences during the 47-day journey, including lots of fascinating characters along the way.
I have a secret dream of running the Colorado Trail. Please donât tell anyone, especially Amy or my parents. Itâs only 486 miles (vs. the Appalachian Trail which is officially âabout 2,200 miles.â). Since itâs a secret dream, Iâm going to keep it locked away there, while reading about amazing feats like what Jurker did on the Appalachian Trail.
If you are a runner, endurance athlete, or just love great human adventure stories, youâll love this book.
Also published on Medium.