Once a Runner - by John L Parker (Paperback)

About the Book

Perhaps the best novel ever written about running. There are parts of "Once a Runner" that are pure poetry. I have never read descriptions of what it is to run and race as accurate and compelling as Parker's.--Tom Jordan, "Track & Field News."

Book Synopsis

The undisputed classic of running fiction and one of the most beloved sports novels ever published, Once a Runner tells the story of a collegiate runner's dreams amid the turmoil of the 1960s and the Vietnam War.

Inspired by the author's experience as a collegiate champion, the novel follows Quenton Cassidy, a competitive runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school's athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes' protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life against the greatest miler in history.

A rare insider's account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners, Once a Runner is an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one individual's quest to become a champion.

Review Quotes

"By far the most accurate fictional portrayal of the world of the serious runner...a marvelous description of the way it really is." --Kenny Moore, Sports Illustrated

"Part training manual, part religious tract, part love story, and all about running, Once a Runner is so inspiring it could be banned as a performance-enhancing drug." --Benjamin Cheever, author of Strides

"The best novel ever written about running."--Runner's World

"The best piece of running fiction around. Beg, borrow, or buy a copy, and you'll never need another motivator." --Dave Langlais, Runner's World