Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Paperback – Bargain Price, April 2, 2013

Even if you don't care about ultrarunning or know anything about the sport, Eat & Run can be an entertaining and thought-provoking read. It's more than just a story about a man who has been one of the most dominant ultrarunners in the world for the last decade, it's about a man who seeks to transform himself through dedication to his sport, a conscientious way of living (especially through diet) and searching always for greater insight into himself.Jurek began making a name for himself in the ultrarunning scene in the late 90s, when he first began winning big ultrarunning events. He was featured in Christopher McDougall's bestseller, Born to Run, as he was one of the gringo runners who went up against the now-famous Tarahumara Indian runners in their native land.The book is entertaining as it details all the tribulations individuals go through who engage in extreme sports, who push themselves beyond limits most of us can't cross -- and do it time and again as a way of life. The book, though, is also compelling as biography, and Jurek comes across as an unpretentious guy who comes from simple, working-class roots who had to deal with many challenges early in life (an overbearing father, relative poverty, a mother who was sick from MS) and because of those challenges, became a fierce competitor with a drive that is admirable to say the least.The format is a bit quirky, with chapters about running mixed with recollections about youthful experiences and then random vegan recipes sprinkled throughout. There's also a lot of reflection/introspection, as Jurek melds existentialism with the runner's and vegan's way of life (without being preachy). The fact that Jurek is vegan is initially amazing for what he puts his body through, but it makes sense once you understand that Jurek's whole approach to living is about simplicity and purity.The book was a great read and inspired me to re-think some of my own limitations. I think it could do the same for you.

Biography. I liked this book more than I liked other sports biography books. I felt that this book was very well-written, well referenced, educational, and told some interesting stories about the field and history of ultramarathons.In particular, I felt the book did a really nice job of consistently presenting the author's inner thoughts, goals, feelings, and life story without coming across as being too egotistical, or too self-centered. This made the book much more accessible and enjoyable to read (at least for me).The detailed index with hyperlinks was a very nice touch in the Kindle e-book. There were separate indexes for the recipes and for the general index.The only letdown in the book for me – And I admit it is a minor one – is that given the depth of thoughtfulness in the book, I found the ending to be a bit abrupt. One minute the author finishes a big race, and three paragraphs later the book is over.I was expecting a longer section or closing chapter with a summary of the author's retrospective thoughts on his life and career, what major lessons he learned, what (if anything) he might do differently if he had it to do over again, and what recommendations from his fairly unique life perspective that he might make to the general population of readers.I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good biographies. I think the authors did a really nice job.

The book is a catchy read: easily written with a mix of action, life philosophy and culinary. Hence the five stars - I kept on reading every spare moment of the day I could find. I am an aspiring runner, not ultra- (at least yet), but a daily running amateur. I am also interested in healthy lifestyle, mindfulness and minimalism, hence my interest in Scott's thoughts.That said, as a source of an inspiration to my running and plant-based diet, Scott's book had somewhat of a mixed impact:- running: Scott does inspire to run and enjoy the spiritual side of running. However, his professionalism and devotion to running can be hardly matched by "occasional" runners like me. And since I have not done endurance training from childhood to my late 30s, I can hardly connect to the levels of performance that the book talks about (despite some entry-level advice that the book provides on techniques etc). Therefore at some stage of the book my read changed from admiration-only to admiration mixed with discouragement, because the performance Scott writes about can hardly be matched by someone like me (blame me for lack of self-confidence, though try to run 165 miles in 24 hours).- plant based diet: the book did inspire me to learn more about plant based diets and to actually try it out. I am now going through this fundamental change of lifestyle and am enjoying it quite a bit (with all the daily doubts about my ability to continue). That said, Scott's recipies were overly complicated to me - I am an amateur cook only, thus I like to follow recipies very closely, and I also live outside US/UK, thus products I can find in stores here are quite different from those in Scott's recipies. With this, starting from Scott's recipy 3 onwards I just skimmed them but really paid no attention, thinking that they are quite useless given my skills and products.So overall a great read, hope you enjoy it!Best regards,D.