
by Adharanand Finn (Author)
"Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year" - This is shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world's biggest races, from the Olympics to big city marathons, Runner's World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover just what it was that made them so fast - and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his family (and his running shoes), he moved from Devon to the small town of Iten, in Kenya, home to hundreds of the country's best athletes. Once there he laced up his shoes and ventured out onto the dirt tracks, running side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls and barefoot schoolchildren. He ate their food, slept in their training camps, interviewed their coaches, and his children went to their schools. And at the end of it all, there was his dream, to join the best of the Kenyan athletes in his first marathon, an epic race through lion country across the Kenyan plains.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Published: 05 Apr 2012
ISBN 10: 0571274056
ISBN 13: 9780571274055
Book Overview: An epic personal quest to discover the remarkable secrets of the world's greatest runners.
Prizes: Winner of British Sports Book Awards: New Writer of the Year 2013.
Advance praise for Running with the Kenyans
Equal parts cultural examination, cult-of-running treatise, and poignant memoir, Running with the Kenyans thrives on a variety of levels. Like the skilled distance runner he is, Finn paces this book marvelously and then saves the best for the final kick. This book packs all the pleasure and satisfaction--and none of the ancillary pain--of a long training run. --L. Jon Wertheim, senior editor, Sports Illustrated, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Scorecasting
Not everyone gets to heaven in their lifetime. Finn tried to run there, and succeeded. Running with the Kenyans is a great read. --Bernd Heinrich, author of Why We Run
If you want to know the secrets of Kenyan runners, and have a rollicking adventure along the way, join Finn in his fascinating tale of what it is to go stride for stride with the fastest people on Earth. --Neal Bascomb, author of The Perfect Mile
An extremely good book . . . If Born to Run taught us what to wear (or not to wear) when running, Finn's fascinating Running with the Kenyans teaches us how to run. . . . In the tradition of the best sports writing, Finn embedded himself fully in his subject and reveals, for the first time, just how close we are to the holy grail of the sub-two-hour marathon. --Robin Harvie, author of The Lure of Long Distances
A beautiful and inspiring must-have for every runner, Running with the Kenyans is far more than an inspirational story, but a guide toward running, humility, and life, from the amazing people of Kenya. --Michael Sandler, author of Barefoot Running