Blood, Sweat & Spikes: Running the Wetmore Way

by Lyle Smith

At the height of the first American Running Boom, a small town in New Jersey emerged as something of a magical place in the sport. Tiny Bernardsville, in the Somerset Hills produced dozens of local, state, age-group, and national champions and claimed a place in the pantheon of American distance running. A junior program fed a high school team of boys and girls that claimed legend status. Before he was one of the best collegiate distance running coaches on the planet, Mark Wetmore was the young, ambitious, experimental coach of this program. BLOOD, SWEAT & SPIKES is one story of one of those runners in that town and the people who made it unique in the history of the sport.

269 pages, Paperback

Published January 15, 2025

About the author

Lyle Smith is the author of the memoir, BLOOD, SWEAT & SPIKES and WHY YELLOW MATTERS, that explores the importance of asking “why?” in everything we do. He makes his home in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with his wife, Heather, and son Aiden. It is a place he’s wanted to return since he first ran the Junior Olympic Cross Country nationals here at age 11. Originally from Bernardsville, NJ, he can proudly say he was a part of The Long Red Line of Bernards distance running as a two-time high school All-American, 16-time NJ state champion and twice a member of the Penn Relays high school boys distance medley Championship of America team.

Reviews

[Chris Alepa]

I graduated a north jersey high school in 2021, I was a bit of a lone wolf figuring out training. I read anything Lydiard, devoured Running with the Buffalos, I wanted to run high mileage and be the best. I loved my history and knew a little bit about the Wetmore era at Bernards.

This book opened that whole world to me, and it felt like I could have written a lot of this book. It was all so familiar, the long runs, the agony of an unrealized college career, the Jersey courses, the glory of MOCs.

Most importantly, I realized the friends and the memories were the most defining parts. It helped me grapple with some of the feelings I have had about my own career and appreciate that others have felt the same.

The author made me, someone who graduated high school nearly 40 years later, feel and remember all the same emotions. The trials of miles are timeless, I’m glad to know the Bernards story.

[Michael Hoppe]

I loved this book. I have never written a review before so here goes. I should mention that I might be a little biased because I am the Athletic Director at Bernards High School. I also attended Bernards High, class of 1979. I remember Lyle Smith as a dedicated student athlete at Bernards High. I also went to high school with some of the great runners mentioned in this book. As a young baseball coach at Bernards, I also had a deep admiration and respect for Coach Wetmore. This is a quick read through the eyes of an incredible athlete trying to give readers a perspective of the trials and tribulations of an athlete of Lyle's caliber. The ups and downs, Lyle spelled it out. He also spelled out how dedicated Coach Wetmore was to his craft and his athletes. To me, it was an enjoyable journey and a special tribute to the small town of Bernardsville and everyone who was able to be on the "train."

[Bjorn Anderson]

I thoroughly enjoyed Blood, Sweat & Spikes! Having read a lot of running books, I am typically skeptical, but this is a must read for those who love the sport. Looking back, one's competitive running life is fleeting. During XC seasons, my college coach would often say: "These are the best days of your life." We couldn't truly understand what he meant at that age. Lyle Smith captures the magic - the friendships, highs/lows, hard-earned lessons, self-formation, freedom, etc. - at the heart of these memories. His descriptions of longs runs, trail runs, and workouts in particular elicited strong emotions rooted in the past. While I was sad to finish the book, I am certain I will revisit it.

[Steve]

A detailed, funny and heartfelt account of Lyle's running career and how his coach "poured into" his life over many years, leaving a lasting impact. This book will certainly resonate with any runner or athlete, from weekend warrior to those at the elite level. One of the bigger takeaways for me, however, was the larger running community Mark, as coach, was able to build while in Bernardsville - something that Lyle and so many other runners and their families benefited from. If you've ever experienced being part of such a community, you will appreciate the people, places and stories that Lyle so brilliantly describes.

[Jim Ridgway]

Lyle is a master storyteller. Having grown up in with many of those he references in this memoir, he truly brings them all to life.

I am not a runner by nature and yet he made the references and stories around these elements interesting to a non-runner.

The genuine references to his life experience and known many of the people and events brought a real sense of being there in the moment.

Lyle’s storytelling just shines through the entire book. From start to finish you are transported back to 1980s Bernardsville with all the personalities and events that make this a fantastic read.

[Rod]

Reading Blood, Sweat, and Spikes felt less like a book with a hero’s journey and more like accidentally stumbling into a teenager’s diary circa 1994. The author pinballs through history with the grace of a caffeinated squirrel, serving up random vignettes in a smug “if you know, you know” style that, frankly, made me wish I didn’t know. It’s cringy and embarrassing.

It reads like a bitter teen’s personal diary where the adult brain forgot to show up and process those memories for adult readers. Every petty observation frozen in time, without context, unprocessed, and then gift-wrapped in self-pity. Imagine a memoir that should’ve stayed between the author and his therapist but instead got unleashed on Amazon. That’s this.

There’s also a weird Bernardsville elite energy throughout, but the problem is…if you aren't from there, you won’t get the random references. Lyle is not a story teller. You don’t get the opportunity to sense the beauty of the area or meet people as characters.

Worse still, the people who do make cameos in the story are barely recognizable as people at all. They’re cardboard cutouts drifting in and out of the author’s random, unorganized vignettes. There are no fully developed characters, no depth, no arcs—just names tossed in like confetti at a party that never quite happens. It’s less history, more one-man pity cross country run. And sadly every human mentioned in this story was just a prop to inflate the author’s journey.

[Reader]

This is a must read for any athlete, but especially long distance runners. I grew up in Bernardsville and went to Bernards High, a few years behind Lyle, and my kids were lucky enough to also graduate from BHS in 2019 and 2021. My daughter ran XC 4 years for BHS, so this book resonated with me in so many ways. Lyle so eloquently writes about our beautiful small town, and the amazing track and XC team that dominated for so long and continues to do so many years later. A well written personal journey.

[D Schonbachler]

A page turning story about a truly special time in a small NJ town (Bernardsville) with outsized success in cross country, and track & field. It is told through the lens of one of its finest runners, who offers keen insights about this time and place, and the lasting impact it undoubtedly had on many who were fortunate enough to be a part of it. It is a story about leadership, teamwork, camaraderie, community, work ethic, and resilience. Enjoy!