by JohnBrant (Author), Alberto Salazar (Author), Salazar (Author)
In 2007, after collapsing on a practice field at the Nike campus, champion marathoner Alberto Salazar's heart stopped beating for 14 minutes. Over the crucial moments that followed, rescuers administered CPR to feed oxygen to his brain and EMTs shocked his heart eight times with defibrillator paddles. He was clinically dead. But miraculously, Salazar was back at the Nike campus coaching his runners just nine days later.
Salazar had faced death before, but he survived that and numerous other harrowing episodes thanks to his raw physical talent, maniacal training habits, and sheer will, as well as--he strongly believes--divine grace.
In 14 Minutes, Salazar chronicles in spellbinding detail how a shy, skinny Cuban-American kid from the suburbs of Boston was transformed into the greatest marathon runner of his era. For the first time, he reveals his tempestuous relationship with his father, a former ally of Fidel Castro; his early running life in high school with the Greater Boston Track Club; his unhealthy obsession to train through pain; the dramatic wins in New York, Boston, and South Africa; and how surviving 14 minutes of death taught him to live again.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 280
Publisher: Rodale Press
Published: 10 Apr 2012
ISBN 10: 1609613147
ISBN 13: 9781609613143
A World Record holder who prided himself on his focus, inner drive, and admitted obsession with detail almost loses a race he never thought he'd enter: the one against time. How and why did Alberto survive for 14 minutes with no pulse? His quest to intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually answer these questions gave me a wonderful glimpse inside the mind of this elite marathoner. --Frank Shorter, Olympic gold medalist, marathon, 1972
Alberto Salazar has lived a remarkable life--two lives, actually--and this engrossing book does justice to them both, knitting miraculous victories with mysterious declines, and the blind ferocity of competition with the clarity of death. It is a story about running, but it is also about faith, grit, and the importance of chasing something larger than ourselves. --David Willey, editor-in-chief, Runner's World
I've known Alberto Salazar since he was a high school runner, but 14 Minutes opened my eyes to who he really is, what he values most, and why he aimed so high. I always felt Alberto had 'heart' and this book proves it. It's a terrific read! --Bill Rodgers, Boston and New York City Marathon champion
A dramatic account of the risks and rewards of top-level long-distance running. --Kirkus Reviews
John Brant has written regularly for Runner's World and Outside magazine. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and National Geographic Adventure among other publications. Duel in the Sun, on which this book is based, is Brant's first book.