Marathon: Going The Distance
By
Woody Green
of
RUNNERS NICHE
A nice two cassette tape package has been released by Paul Kennedy and
Olympic marathoner Peter Fonseca that you might want to add to your
running information library. This set of tapes is filled with 90
minutes of advice, stories, history and motivation from some of the
very best and important runners in the sport. Names like Alberto
Salazar, Grete Waitz, Bill Rodgers, Joan Samuelson, Frank Shorter and
Katherine Switzer are just a few of the voices heard on these tapes.
Anecdotes from races like New York, Boston, Chicago and the Olympic
marathon are featured. The tape is more than just big names, though.
The tapes really get into the guts of running. The bond between all
runners, whether elite or recreational, is very clear when listening to
the tapes.
The advantage of a taped format over print is the ability to hear the
tone of voice and so the excitement, disapointmet or humor in the
inflections of the storytellers. These tapes are clearly the work of
people who live and love the sport, and this is no commercial gloss-
over to try to glean cash from the hundreds of thousands of people who
train for and run a marathon each year.
I found that even the stories I had read about many times, like
Katherine Switzer's run in the Boston Marathon before women were
permitted to officially enter, where fresh and interesting when told by
the people who actually lived them. Alberto Salazar's admission that he
trained himself into the ground takes on an interesting ring when your
hear the disappointment in his voice. And Bill Rodger's effervescent,
enthusiastic voice alone is worth the price of the tape.
While I found the music to be of the trite, elevator, pop type, this
was easily ignored and I highly recommend this tape to anyone
interested in the marathon. Runner's Niche rating: four and a half out
of five possible winged feet.
