Once A Runner Review
Once a Runner is a novel, by John Parker, that details the life and training of collegiate runner Quenton Cassidy.
I really enjoyed this book. I think it would be hard for anyone, not a runner, to establish a relationship with Quenton and be able to relate to his character. I even found it hard, at times to relate, and I have always considered myself one of the loony, running addicts. Everyday Quenton runs, must run....must fill the calendar with miles and miles. He and his friend call it the Trial of Miles or the Miles of Trials. That is the obsession that I can relate to, just not to the extreme that they take it to. They run no less than 15 miles a day and at a clip, that I couldn't run in my fastest race. Quenton compares himself and his teammates to regular runners and says everyday runners are to competitive runners what the cat is to the tiger. Actually,I feel like I am to Quenton what a Shetland pony is to a Thoroughbred. What I mean is that the need to get out and move, the demons that form if you don't, the doubt in your abilities and the normal aches and pains of running I understand but when he says things like-
"It is simply that we can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down with...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway....They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!"
I have never “blazed” or felt the winter leave my feet and it makes me wonder if I were to ask someone like Bernard or Gilbert or maybe even Steve Sisson if they have ever had these emotions or felt this godlike. I question the authenticity of Quentin's emotions because this was written by a man, who though probably a runner, was not an Olympian like Bruce Denton (a prominent character in the book) or a sub- 4 min miler like Quenton Cassidy. So, how can he really know what it is like to be so talented.
However, I can relate to this quote even without having wings for feet-
"Running to him was real, the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free."
I read that quote, on another review and that is why I paid over $40, on Amazon, to buy this book that is no longer being published.
Once A Runner is not only about running but also about Quentin's life in college and how he challenges the rules, his professors, society and his place in it. I have to admit that some of the other subjects in the book are a sometimes beyond me.
Over all, I loved the book. It was not as quick a read as I thought. It made me wish I was able to run with the wind and have the ferocity and guts to be at death's door right before your last kick to win the race. I sort of feel, after reading this book, that I have been on the shoulder of the elites on the tail of the tiger. Now, every time I go out, and another run is “in the books” as my friends and I say, I feel like I am a plodder, the cat or the Shetland Pony.
I really enjoyed this book. I think it would be hard for anyone, not a runner, to establish a relationship with Quenton and be able to relate to his character. I even found it hard, at times to relate, and I have always considered myself one of the loony, running addicts. Everyday Quenton runs, must run....must fill the calendar with miles and miles. He and his friend call it the Trial of Miles or the Miles of Trials. That is the obsession that I can relate to, just not to the extreme that they take it to. They run no less than 15 miles a day and at a clip, that I couldn't run in my fastest race. Quenton compares himself and his teammates to regular runners and says everyday runners are to competitive runners what the cat is to the tiger. Actually,I feel like I am to Quenton what a Shetland pony is to a Thoroughbred. What I mean is that the need to get out and move, the demons that form if you don't, the doubt in your abilities and the normal aches and pains of running I understand but when he says things like-
"It is simply that we can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down with...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race dark Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway....They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leave our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!"
I have never “blazed” or felt the winter leave my feet and it makes me wonder if I were to ask someone like Bernard or Gilbert or maybe even Steve Sisson if they have ever had these emotions or felt this godlike. I question the authenticity of Quentin's emotions because this was written by a man, who though probably a runner, was not an Olympian like Bruce Denton (a prominent character in the book) or a sub- 4 min miler like Quenton Cassidy. So, how can he really know what it is like to be so talented.
However, I can relate to this quote even without having wings for feet-
"Running to him was real, the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free."
I read that quote, on another review and that is why I paid over $40, on Amazon, to buy this book that is no longer being published.
Once A Runner is not only about running but also about Quentin's life in college and how he challenges the rules, his professors, society and his place in it. I have to admit that some of the other subjects in the book are a sometimes beyond me.
Over all, I loved the book. It was not as quick a read as I thought. It made me wish I was able to run with the wind and have the ferocity and guts to be at death's door right before your last kick to win the race. I sort of feel, after reading this book, that I have been on the shoulder of the elites on the tail of the tiger. Now, every time I go out, and another run is “in the books” as my friends and I say, I feel like I am a plodder, the cat or the Shetland Pony.
posted by Marlawanda at 12:19 PM
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