Strides: Running Through History with an Unlikely Athlete

by Benjamin Cheever

Acclaimed novelist Benjamin Cheever--author of The Plagiarist, Famous After Death, and The Good Nanny--brings his buoyant literary style to this impassioned memoir about the sport that changed his life.

From Pheidippides, who rant the first marathon in 490 BC--bringing news to Athens of the Greek victory on the plains of Marathon--to our own soldiers in Iraq today, running is an integral part of human culture and legend. In Strides, heralded author Benjamin Cheever explores the role of running in human history while interspersing this account with revelations of his own decades-long devotion to the sport.

Cheever has traveled the world writing features for Runner's World magazine, and he draws from this rich experience on every page. His adventures have taken him to Kenya in search of the secrets of the world's fastest long-distance runners and to a 10-K race with American soldeirs in Baghdad. Cheever celebrates the quotidian personal satisfaction of a morning run and the more exotic pleasures of the Medoc Marathon in Bordeaux, where fine wines are served at water stations and the first prize is the winner's weight in grand crus. He shares vivid moments from the New York Marathon and waxes rhapsodic about the granddaddy of American distance events--the Boston Marathon. But what truly distignuishes Strides as a memorable read is the unique lens through which this sparkling writer explores our deep bond to running, an experience he likens to that of being able to fly.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Fitness, Memoir, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2007

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little tough to describe this book - other than to say that if you are a runner, you will thoroughly enjoy it. Part memoir and part history of running, it is tough to put down once you've started reading it. There are essentially 26 mini-essays on a variety of running-related topics over the course of the book, plus a list of the 26 greatest running books at the end. The author is very relatable as he is a middle of the pack runner (who just happens to have some great opportunities to experience certain things). All that being said, I think a non-runner wouldn't "get" this book and is likely to be confused by it.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a running reader, I thought I might love this book. Instead, I only liked it. A book of Cheever's running stories would have been more entertaining, and a book of essays about the history of running would have been more educational. The effort to do both was not entirely successful.

[Joshua Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked his own personal story and anecdotes, but could've done without the history lessons, as I've heard it all before, usually told in a better manner.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is a little misleading. There are some stories about running throughout history, but they’re almost all purely anecdotal. There are a few citations at the back, but they’re fairly sparse, and much of the history is actually myth. I would describe it more as a musing on running, comprising many humorous and touching anecdotes about the author’s experience with the sport. This includes everything from doing a 10-K in Baghdad to participating in the wine-drinking marathon mentioned above.

There were parts of this book I liked a lot. I liked that the author interviewed professional athletes and other experts to add to his own perspective. I liked his perspective, especially on his own experiences, since these were often told with the most humor. And I liked seeing the enthusiasm and love the author clearly feels for running. As a non-runner, it was interesting to see what draws people to running and what the challenges are. It sounds as though on of the great benefits of running is the feeling of community. That was conveyed through a variety of poignant stories.

One downside of the book was the complete mix of topics, from funny to moving stories and from myth to history to musings on running. The author would often make a point, relate a few anecdotes, make that point or another point, and than return with more anecdotes. As a result, the book felt somewhat choppy. I also would have liked to see more research and more history, both of which were smaller components of the book than I expected based on the description and subtitle. Of course, someone looking for something different, particularly someone looking to read another runner’s thoughts on running, might enjoy this book a lot more. Given how funny some of the anecdotes were, I might pick up a memoir or a comedy he’s written since those might be more for me.

This review first published on Doing Dewey.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start at first, I thought his summary of running through the middle ages to be kind of boring. I really began to pay attention when he started asking the question of why he began to run and how it changed more than just his appearance. It is the changes that can not be perceived by the naked eye that make the greatest impact/transformation on an individual's life. Really enjoyed and could relate to his question on how exercise could potentially be bad for our health if we don't properly find a balance between strenuous physical activity and recovery as well as cross training or as Cheever prefers to call it "balance training." It was also interesting to read about the "streak," I personally have one going on for several years. His statement of not fearing death but fearing the inability to run is something that deeply resonated with me, "the only runs I regret as the ones that affected my running" perfectly summons this fear. It is this fear however that makes me aware that I need to take the right measures and to find other "balance forms of training" to prolong and extend my running life.

[TK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished this book -- I read the final half as I was tapering from and recovering from running my second marathon, so I was definitely in the mood for a book about running.
I was hoping for more. Ben Cheever is a great writer, and a man besotted with running, so I thought the alchemy of the two would work in my favor as a running reader, or a reading runner, but his concept for the book didn't quite work out.
I think he was trying to give a history of running, interspersed with his memoir of his running life. Instead of producing a cohesive book, it felt very episodic, and part of it were so casually written I felt like I was reading his notes for the book rather than a polished passage. Ultimately, he didn't say anything about the sport that was news to me.
Having said that, I did enjoy the chapters aout Kenyan running, and the parts about the Boston & New York marathons. His list of the top 26.2 running books is something I know I will have to read my way through before I die. And, I underlined this sentence, as it felt like the truest, most elegantly stated thing in the book. Cheever is reflecting on waht finishers at the New York marathon went through before he hung a medal around their necks:

"And out on the course that day, they'd been through the moral relativism of the middle of the race."

[Turi Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hadn't noticed Strides of the shelves at work until it ended up on my cart to catalog. It was just what I needed to inspire me at this point in my training schedule. John Cheever outlines the history of running, while interspersing his experiences over a life of running. He covers running as an evolutionary milestone, the early Olympics and the different modern periods of runnings popularity. His experiences include visiting Kenya and elite training camps there, volunteering at the New York Marathon and visiting military outposts to participate in races with the troops. Fun to read, a little haphazard, but inspiring.

[Carolyn Ivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's uneven. Some parts of it are rollicking and funny. Some parts are touching. Some parts are informative. Some parts are clumsy. The parts don't gel. It is as if the author set out to write four completely different books on running but ended up slamming all of them together in one work. The history is interesting but too meager an offering to make it worth buying the book. The personal stories are often interesting but sometimes Cheever reveals himself to be shallow and self-interested. He is at his best when he is describing what he sees around him.

It's an ok book. I don't regret reading it but I can't see going back to it either.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was different from what I was expecting - but I didn't dislike it. It's not a memoir in the traditional sense: a story told through the author's eyes in more-or-less chronological order with traditional plot points. This book is more a set of essays that are loosely related to each other (or sometimes not at all), but they're good essays. I honestly think this would've been better as two books - Cheever's recollections of his running travels and races, and a set of essays about the marathon's history and the contemporary running community.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Cheever just is not that good of an author (and he does feel the pressure of having a famous father): his paragraphs are choppy, they lack transition, and they often seem a bit forced. In any case, he is occasionally capable of revealing some deep personal feelings and emotions to which we can all relate, and for that he gets some credit. Besides, he conveys very well his love (obsession?) with running, so for runners this is another recommended book. Non-runners will not like this book nearly as much, I suspect.

[Tom Rudig · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a runner, I enjoyed reading this book, which seemed to be a compilation of thoughts, ruminations, and history about running. The flow never got quite comfortable; it was somewhat random. The author's writing was at times almost brilliant, and at times rather abstract and hard to follow. I think I would have appreciated more structure and flow to the book; I was left with the impression it was published as an afterthought from Cheever's daily journal. All said, I did enjoy the read and would recommend to those fond of running.

[Jeff McAdams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book to roll around in. Mostly about running for runners, the author has some good times turning a phrase or two. But all the way through I kept wondering how such an accomplished writer managed to get this disjointed mess published. It follows no clear thoughts or structure, and finishing some sections is arduous at best. But still, it's about the runner's soul, and if you don't get it, then you don't have it. One star for the writing, five stars for the subject.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick entertaining read. Contained some good trivia. For example some English dude in the mid-1800's who walked 1000 miles in 1000 hours. Sweet! Despite the author's rapture with the experience of running a marathon, it did not make me want to run one. Nor did it really inspire me to go out and go for a run all that much either, which is I what I was hoping it would do when I checked it out... It does have a list of 26 good books about running in the back though.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book because I was on a "books about running" kick. I'm still in that kick, to be honest, but my book allowance is hindering me a little. I also got this book because I knew what Cheever family the author came from.

I enjoyed it. There was a good mix of personal and historical information. I also felt that I could relate to Cheever, even though he'd smoke me in a race! The writing style suited me.

I'd recommend this book to other runners.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was choppy in parts with transitions from one paragraph to the next not making sense. But as a whole it is a well written and interesting book. The chapters on Kenya and Boston alone made the book worth the read.

This books stacks up particularly well with the overall running genre. There are a lot of poorly written books on running, so it was refreshing to read a running book written by a real writer.

[Brenda Hansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more. The author has great credentials, both as an experienced runner and author. While he had some great turns of phrase and interesting tidbits about some aspects of the sport (esp. historically), the book just came off as rather disjointed for me.
I enjoyed it, but it didn't rise to my expectations.

[Kevin J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bumping it up 2 stars from the last time I read it. I think the real problem is the editing. Most chapters are long amalgamation of short narratives and gives the impression of fractured or disjointed story telling. It would probably flowed better if these shorter narratives were broken down within the chapters.

[J.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at Big Lots in the clearance bin. It provides a good overview of the history of long distance running (marathons in particular) from the point of view of a man who came to running later in life. I enjoyed the writer's style and voice, and thought the historical aspects of the sport were presented in an interesting fashion.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great hodge podge of running lore. There are stories of running in Ancient Greece as well as modem Kenya, New York City, and Boston. Each chapter is an essay on a different facet of running

This book seems to be a good example of nonfiction writing that high school athletes might be attracted to and learned from.

[Jake]

The stuff about the history and biomechanics of running is absolutely fascinating. Cheever himself is kind of an ass who spends too much time talking about himself, and I get sick of him complaining about fat, slow people who dare to try to run (like me).

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this was the book equivalent of a guy with diahrea of the mouth running behind you the whole time in a 5K, it still had its moments, especially the Kenya and Iraq parts. List of great running-related books at the end is also interesting.

[Shaka Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheever's style is highly conversational so that reading this book feels like you're on a run with him. Runners of all ability levels will enjoy this book, especially those with an appreciation for the history of the sport (both recreation-ally and competitively).

[Nessun26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice review of his own development as a marathon runner while incorporating a variety of stories from Greek origins to advice from friends. Shows how running is more than just a form of exercise, it's a way of life.

[Stevie Hine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be a history of running, and some chapters are, but it's mixed with Cheever's personal memoirs. I wasn't all that interested in his stories but his chapters on running history are good. He also recommends some good books.

[Mark Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times, an interesting look at running throughout history. However, the book really needed better focus, and I often got frustrated by his rabbit trails.

My full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Sean-patrick Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to writing, the apple didn't fall too too far from the tree. Cheever hops back & forth through the history of running, the Olympics, his own athleticism, resulting in an interesting overview of the sport and motion, if a bit messy one at that.

[Michael Dennisuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very best running books I have read. It's a personal journey. Great writing, well researched.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

...this may even be a good read for a non-runner... maybe...

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read for a fairly serious runner, but probably not for anyone else. Gives some good historical info on the evolution of the marathon.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting and somewhat funny. As a runner, the historical facts were intriguing but I found the flow, or lack thereof, was a bit hard.