Run Like a Girl - by Mina Samuels (Paperback)

About the Book

"Run Like A Girl" is about the impact that participating in sports has on women--how the confidence and strength that it helps to build spills over into all of our experiences, making us stronger and better prepared for life's many challenges. In this inspiring book, Mina Samuels uses the varied personal stories of women and girls of all ages and backgrounds--as well as her own--to take a broad look at the power that sports have to help us face, and to overcome, obstacles in all arenas of life.
Myriad voices fill the pages of "Run Like A Girl" a US-ranked amateur triathlete who's raising an autistic son; a thirteen-year-old girl who discovers and falls in love with cross-country running; a woman who runs her first marathon at age sixty; an investment banker who quit her job to become a yoga teacher and adopt a daughter on her own; a young mother with scoliosis who cycled her way back to health and became a jewelry designer along the way; and countless other women--including Kathrine Switzer, Rebecca Rusch, and Molly Barker--who have been changed by their experience with sports.
"Run Like A Girl" makes the important argument that physical strength lends itself to psychological strength, that lessons learned on the field (or track, or slopes) can help us face challenges in other areas--and that for many women, participating in sports translates into leading a happier, more fulfilling life.

Book Synopsis

Run Like A Girl is about the impact that participating in sports has on women, how the confidence and strength that it helps to build makes us stronger and better prepared for life's many challenges.

In this inspiring book, Mina Samuels uses the personal stories of women and girls of all ages and backgrounds, as well as her own, to take a broad look at the power sports have to help us overcome obstacles in all arenas of life. Run Like A Girl includes the stories of a US-ranked amateur triathlete who's raising an autistic son, a thirteen-year-old girl who falls in love with cross-country running, a woman who runs her first marathon at age sixty, an investment banker who quit her job to become a yoga teacher and adopt a daughter on her own, a young mother with scoliosis who cycled her way back to health and became a jewelry designer along the way, and countless other women, including Kathrine Switzer, Rebecca Rusch, and Molly Barker, who have been changed by their experiences with sports.

Run Like A Girl argues that physical strength lends itself to psychological strength, and that for many women, participating in sports translates into leading a happier, more fulfilling life.

Review Quotes

Get inspired to meet any fitness challenge with Mina Samuels s new book, Run Like a Girl, a chicken soup for the athlete s soul. Its interviews with hundreds of women will fire your desire to reach personal bests in all areas of life.
SELF, March, 2011
A well-rounded investigation into the profound impact of sports on women of all ages and walks of life.
Samuels (The Queen of Cups, 2006) may celebrate the successes of professional female athletes who have thrived in a traditionally male-dominated arena, but her main focus is on the ordinary women who have achieved enlightenment through sports. The author illustrates the theme of sports as a metaphor for life, and is herself a testimony to this concept. Samuels credits her own discovery of distance running at 27 as the catalyst for her transformation from attorney and human-rights defender to writer and sports advocate. She suggests that women who approach life from an athlete's perspective are better equipped to find balance and harmony and are more courageous in the face of challenges than those who do not. She argues that the stamina and endurance built up by athletes is good practice for the resilience needed to persevere when they stumble off the pitch. The book is built on lighthearted accounts of women who become comically engrossed in their sport as well as uplifting tales of women who have overcome life-altering trauma. Samuels anecdotes may at times seem redundant or excessive in quantity, but they are neatly interwoven with background information on the female athlete s plight from a political, psychological and social standpoint. As such, they serve a purposeful, rather than ornamental, function.
An enthusiastic tribute to women who replace the stigma attached to the term running like a girl with a sense of power and honor.
Kirkus Reviews March, 2011
There are lots of good sports books, but rarely beautifully-written ones. Run Like A Girl is both.
Mary Brophy Marcus, USA Today
Inspiring
Running Times, March, 2011
[A] compelling argument that women who run are much more likely to lead fulfilling lives in any number of ways
Canadian Running, April, 2011
[A]n engaging read that will have most women nodding their heads in agreement and motivated to keep at the sports they love.
Vermont Sports, April, 2011
A book that is needed and important and life changingall the things running has been for us!
Kathrine Switzer, author of Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women s Sports, Running and Walking for Women Over 40 and coauthor of 26.2 Marathon Stories.
A compelling and insightful book about using sport and physical activity to balance the extraordinary challenges women facea must read for women athletes and non-athletes alike.
Donna Lopiano, founder and president of Sports Management Resources; formerly CEO of the Women s Sports Foundation
I was hooked after the first page. Run Like A Girl reminds me, once again, the power and importance of sport in young girls and women's lives. As a mom and an athlete, I will continue to proudly run like a girl and support my kids as they do the same!
Summer Sanders, Gold Medalist and TV personality
Run Like a Girl celebrates the power of sports and fitness in all aspects of life. It speaks to the true gift and value of sport defining who we are.
Julie Foudy, Former Captain of the US Women's Soccer Team and Founder of the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy
"

"Get inspired to meet any fitness challenge with Mina Samuels s new book, " Run Like a Girl, " a chicken soup for the athlete s soul. Its interviews with hundreds of women will fire your desire to reach personal bests in all areas of life."
"SELF," March, 2011
A well-rounded investigation into the profound impact of sports on women of all ages and walks of life.
Samuels ("The Queen of Cups," 2006) may celebrate the successes of professional female athletes who have thrived in a traditionally male-dominated arena, but her main focus is on the ordinary women who have achieved enlightenment through sports. The author illustrates the theme of sports as a metaphor for life, and is herself a testimony to this concept. Samuels credits her own discovery of distance running at 27 as the catalyst for her transformation from attorney and human-rights defender to writer and sports advocate. She suggests that women who approach life from an athlete's perspective are better equipped to find balance and harmony and are more courageous in the face of challenges than those who do not. She argues that the stamina and endurance built up by athletes is good practice for the resilience needed to persevere when they stumble off the pitch. The book is built on lighthearted accounts of women who become comically engrossed in their sport as well as uplifting tales of women who have overcome life-altering trauma. Samuels anecdotes may at times seem redundant or excessive in quantity, but they are neatly interwoven with background information on the female athlete s plight from a political, psychological and social standpoint. As such, they serve a purposeful, rather than ornamental, function.
An enthusiastic tribute to women who replace the stigma attached to the term "running like a girl" with a sense of power and honor.
"Kirkus Reviews" March, 2011
"There are lots of good sports books, but rarely beautifully-written ones." Run Like A Girl" is both."
Mary Brophy Marcus, "USA Today"
"Inspiring"
"Running Times," March, 2011
"[A] compelling argument that women who run are much more likely to lead fulfilling lives in any number of ways"
"Canadian Running," April, 2011
"[A]n engaging read that will have most women nodding their heads in agreement and motivated to keep at the sports they love."
"Vermont Sports," April, 2011
"A book that is needed and important and life changingall the things running has been for us!"
Kathrine Switzer, author of "Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women s Sports," "Running and Walking for Women Over 40" and coauthor of "26.2 Marathon Stories."
"A compelling and insightful book about using sport and physical activity to balance the extraordinary challenges women facea" must read "for women athletes and non-athletes alike."
Donna Lopiano, founder and president of Sports Management Resources; formerly CEO of the Women s Sports Foundation
"I was hooked after the first page." Run Like A Girl "reminds me, once again, the power and importance of sport in young girls and women's lives. As a mom and an athlete, I will continue to proudly run like a girl and support my kids as they do the same!"
Summer Sanders, Gold Medalist and TV personality
Run Like a Girl "celebrates the power of sports and fitness in all aspects of life. It speaks to the true gift and value of sport defining who we are."
Julie Foudy, Former Captain of the US Women's Soccer Team and Founder of the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy
"

About the Author

A former trial lawyer and human-rights advocate, Mina Samuels is the co-author of the recently published New York Times bestseller The Think Big Manifesto, with Michael Port. She was a regular contributor to Vermont Sports for two years, and her essay "Tomorrow Might Not Be the Same" appeared in the collection How Running Changed My Life. Her first novel, The Queen of Cups, was published in January 2007, and she has also published personal essays in Alimentum and The French Literary Review. Samuels has also ghostwritten numerous books.

When she's not writing, Samuels can often be found running, cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, kayaking, climbing, or doing yoga. She competes in sprint, Olympic-length, and half-ironman triathlons, marathons, and shorter-distance road races, and has participated in the Canadian Ski Marathon, a two-day, 100-mile cross-country ski event. She has hiked and backpacked in Chile, Pakistan, South Africa, Tanzania, Europe, Canada and the United States. She lives in New York, NY.