50/50 Book Review

I just finished reading Dean Karnazes new book 50/50, Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days- and How You Too Can Achiever Super Endurance and thought I would post some comments.
I first want to start off by saying I have the utmost respect for Dean and his achievements and could only hope to complete the number of ultras he has done, and competitively at that. Deans, first book Ultramatathon Man was pretty encouraging and I enjoyed hearing about how Dean came to start running ultras and in particular his race report on the Western States 100. It seemed much more raw and had the passion of someone falling in love with a sport.
If 50/50 sounds kind of cheesy to you, well then you won't be surprised. I had known about Dean's endeavor to cover 50 miles in 50 days but didn't follow it too closely. It had actually been done before, but with much less hype and support.
While it was and still is an impressive feat by any means I felt that the book almost did it a disservice by seeming to imply that anyone could do it if they just have a go to attitude and decent bio-mechanics.
Aside from the fact that the book was written at what seemed like a 4th grade level, it just didn't seem very plausible. The book reads more like a middle school biography with helpful sidebars full of "The Deans List" and "Quicktakes". It reminded me of Stepehen Colberts satire I Am America, except that it wasn't a satire.
What kills me the most is that the book will be, and probably already is, a best seller, regardless of the fact that it was written with another author.
The other part that was really annoying was that the book read like a "The North Face" ad with liberal inclusions of products from shoes to windbreakers. The problem with disliking The North Face and thinking they are total sellouts because they clothe entire campuses of frat boys and girls, is that they have tremendous cash flow to sponsor real athletes and allow them to go on some amazing adventures and push the boundaries of the sports they represent. The annoying thing, as Dean points out is that often times, expeditions must be put on hold prior to TNF being able to fully market, merchandise, and as in his case develop entire product lines (TNF currently didn't have a road shoe market) around an event, talent, whatever.
To what degree Dean is actually writing is unclear but seems to rear it's head in some of the long winded soliloquy's accompanying various sections of the book, the most tiresome being his long description of running the Marine Corps Marathon.
Dean (or whoever) is at their best when they are simply writing race reports of the various races and showcasing some of the athletes who ran along with them.
Particularly disappointing and personal was Karnazes's terse and disparaging description of the Otter Creek Marathon in Muldraugh Kentucky. Having ran the particular marathon I had to laugh out loud at Karnaze's description:
"The Otter Creek Marathon is grueling under the best of circumstances. Another trail marathon, it combined a highly technical route with more than twenty-seven hundred feet of hill climbing. The path was tricky, mostly singletrack, with plenty of roots and trail debris - loose rocks, stumps, broken branches - strewn across it. The flat sections were few, the descents were treacherous, and the climbs were arduous. Worst of all, it had rained the previous night, and a steady drizzle continued to fall throughout our struggle to survive the course. As a result, the large slab rocks that dotted the trail were as slippery as sheets of ice."
This was in October, I ran the Otter Creek in December, in the mud and it rained 2-3 inches in the last 45 minutes of the race. It wasn't that bad. Karnaze's description sounds more like the hyperbole of Whymper than a die hard ultra runner who has completed probably all of the most challenging ultras in the country/world.
I look forward to seeing the race director of Otter Creek this weekend and seeing if he's had a chance to read the description of his race.
It was a fun read though and I can definitely see that it will encourage lots of folks to get outside and run and provide many helpful hints. I would still enjoy meeting and going for a run with Dean to see what he's like out from under TNF's thumb.

For a real intense race report I direct you to the following...

http://flyinbrianrobinson.blogspot.com/2008/04/barkley-2008-full-measure-of-fun.html

Enjoy!