Book Review- To Be A Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking on a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) by Martin Dugard

Even though this book isn’t a new release, I recently heard about it on the podcast, Marathon Training Academy, which you can find here. The hosts of the podcast, Angie and Trevor, interviewed Martin Dugard and it seemed interesting enough for me to check out the book. Aside from this book on running, Dugard is a New York Times bestselling author of many books and co-author of books from the Killing Series with Bill O’Reilly, in addition to many magazine articles and the movie “A Warrior’s Heart.”

From the beginning of To Be A Runner, which is a series of essays that Dugard uses to weave together the story of his running journey, it’s apparent that running has always been a driving force in Dugard’s life. As a young boy, he caught the running bug after running a mile at a running club his parents belonged to. He says in the book, “Running has taught me that I can do anything, just so long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other.” That’s a powerful lesson in life.

In addition to being a runner for the majority of his life, except for stints where he would slack off, gain weight, and be drawn back into running once again, Dugard has been a running coach for many years. In the book, he describes how he kind of fell into the position of Head Cross Country Coach at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California in 2005, where he still coaches. Throughout the book, he tells coaching-related stories about the girls and boys on his team, most of which are entertaining and interesting.

Dugard seems to be an avid traveler and tells stories of running in places like a small island off the coast of Borneo, where he was warned about 30-foot pythons who live in the jungle there and drop out of trees onto unsuspecting prey. He tells of running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain and running in the early morning hours in London. In the story about running in northern Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, he explains how he came up with his mantra “Keep pushing … always,” which is now on the shirts of his cross-country runners.

Besides the stories of pythons in Borneo, there are other examples of encounters with animals throughout the book, such as a brown bear and her cubs in Mammoth, California. There was the elk in Jackson, Wyoming and the moose in the Rocky Mountains. He tells of being on the lookout for mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, and rattlesnakes in the canyons of Southern California, where he lives and regularly runs.

In the short story entitled Saipan, he explains how this where his “quixotic” Olympic quest had come to an end. You see, Martin Dugard decided sometime during his middle-age that he was going to get himself back in shape and try out for the men’s Olympic team. This dream ultimately ended at the XTERRA off-road triathlon in Japan where Dugard finished last, but in the end he was able to turn that experience around into a positive learning moment.

There are many other stories in this book that’s 238 pages including the acknowledgements, but I don’t want to give too many away. If you enjoy reading stories about other runner’s journeys, I believe you would enjoy this book. There are small interjections about Dugard’s running beliefs and philosophies (ice baths, running shoes, etc.) but for the most part, this is not a book about how to be a “proper” runner. This is simply one man’s story of how running has influenced his life and in turn how his life has influenced his running. Check it out for yourself!

Have you read this book or any of Martin Dugard’s many other books? If so, what did you think?

Happy running!

Donna