Racing Shadows - by James K Dill (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In May of 1984, the summer Olympic Games will return to America. Jeff Dillon prepares to run in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Buffalo, New York. He will face the deepest field ever assembled. It is the pinnacle of his professional running career. Unfortunately, the marathon goddess does not smile on Jeff as he crosses the finish line last, exhausted and depressed. His misery is interrupted by Bill Atlee, an Olympian who won the 1928 marathon trials. Bill offers to coach the struggling runner, an unexpected silver lining on the day.

Jeff returns to graduate school to be coached by Bill and the prospect of a fall come-back race. Through the many miles of training, a secret is revealed and an agreement struck. Everything points to Jeff's next marathon. There are questions to be answered and redemption sought by both athlete and coach. The race will provide a second chance to compete, to strive for the podium, and face everything that lies beyond the finish.

Review Quotes

"Racing Shadows races literally between life and death, around plot curves and down fast-paced straightaways that will take your breath away. Jim Dill knows the terrain of the elite distance runner. Artfully he captures the rhythms of that world, all the dedication and sacrifices needed to run like few others."

-- David L. Robbins, author of War of the Rats and The Low Bird.

"Racing Shadows explores how inner fears and insecurities from past events can haunt runners in the present, and how striving for a new goal can help in letting go and finding peace. Jeff Dillon and his coach search the origins of their disquiet and discover their journey together is about more than running, and that neither would find the peace they seek without the other. James Dill's own Olympic Marathon Trials experience and running journey bring reality to his prose and authenticity to the relationship between runner and coach."

-- Dennis Barker, author of The River Road

"In Racing Shadows, James Dill's new novel about finishing life's toughest races, Dill takes readers on the literary equivalent of a fast-paced tempo run, moving more like a seasoned pro than a first-time author through a story of friendship, dedication, loss and victory. Dill doles out reader endorphins through deft racing scenes, around dark corners of his characters' pasts, and amidst the iconic running world of the competitive athlete. The pairing of odd couple distance runners - proven Bill and promising Jeff - isn't as unlikely as it is extraordinary. The two set out to exorcise old demons - lost loves, lost races and selves - and find in each other a once-in-a-lifetime friendship not of this world. Dill, a 1984 Olympic marathon hopeful, writes from a place deep within every runner aiming to defy physical limitations to rank as a world-class elite, wondering from where the required super human strength will come and finding it only when they look to something bigger than themselves. Readers will love Racing Shadows, an intimate story of love and friendship that reveals the expansiveness of the human spirit, arriving at the finish winded but ready for more."

-- Joni Albrecht, Editor, Little Star

"Racing Shadows is a compelling story that delves into the heart, mind and soul of a dedicated distance runner aiming to reach his athletic potential while struggling to balance personal relationships, school and training. An added twist is his unlikely coach who takes us on a pathway never imagined. Whether you raced during the running boom or wonder what it was like to have been racing in the late 1970s and early 1980s, you will not be able to put this book down once you start reading. Racing Shadows took me on a journey different from that in any of the hundreds of books and articles I have read on the sport of running and is immensely satisfying."

-- Gary Cohen is founder of garycohenrunning.com and his over 125 monthly interviews include more than 70 Olympians. He is one of less than 30 persons worldwide to ever race a sub-3:00 marathon in five decades with a best time of 2:22:34.