by Scott Jurek
Horrible awful--and awesome. Can that combine in a book?
What was horrible was the punishment he put his body through...and spirit. It seems odd to beat oneself up so badly just to beat a record, but it wasn't "just" to beat a record. We don't think it so odd that native Americans fasted on a mountainside for three days to give themselves holy visions. Or that people take long, solo journeys to understand their souls. So why should we fault him, for running so hard and so long and ignoring so many crippling injuries?
I guess not...but running through pain seems one of the scariest things a person could do.
Almost more interesting than his own story, though, is that of his wife and trail support crew, Jenny Jurek. She went through some stuff! Wow! And no slouch of a runner herself, either. It must have been murder to sit on the sidelines--except she didn't--she was as much a necessity for the journey as he was. She drove on the sidelines...and back roads, and 2-lane highways, and muddy parking lots....
Great story, and some of the many quotes that I will not include here, are memorable. Wish I'd written them down.
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