A Closer Look at...Running for their Lives
As runners, we often become distraught when faced with an injury that prevents us from running for even a few days. However, it is important that we achieve a sense of perspective about our running, recognizing that such injuries pale in comparison to the suffering of individuals faced with life- threatening and incurable diseases. Karl Gruber is an individual who has achieved this perspective, recognizing that, though running may play an important part in our lives, we cannot become so engrossed in our own quest for PR's and victories that we lose sight of the world around us. In his book Running for their Lives (Xlibris, Philadelphia, PA 2007, $20.99), Gruber describes how he is able to combine his passion for running with a desire to take action to help others through his attempt to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks to raise money and awareness for leukemia.

Gruber begins by describing how his year of weekly marathoning came to be. He recounts receiving a letter from the Central Ohio Leukemia Society that described the Team in Training program and asked for individuals to train for the 1994 Honolulu Marathon, while also raising $3,200 for leukemia. He describes his response, noting "I can use my health and running talent to actually help someone else!" and states that "This was the genesis of an idea and journey that would change the path of my life in the long run." Gruber decides to join the Team in Training and, as part of the program, comes to be paired with a local leukemia patient, five-year old Glen Miller, Jr. After successfully completing the program and running the Honolulu Marathon Gruber describes returning to his home in southeastern Ohio, where, on an early morning run he makes the decision to go even further by devoting an entire year to raising money for leukemia through running. He decides to undertake what he deems his "Super Run for the Cure" in which he will run a marathon a week for a year in an effort to raise a million dollars for leukemia.

Gruber then moves on to describe the many challenges he must face in order to even begin his journey which range from finding the funding to support his attempt to the logistics of traveling to marathons that are spread across the US and Canada. Gruber, however, is able to overcome these obstacles and describes his experiences at each of the 52 marathons in which he competes. From Cleveland, Ohio, to Carmel, California, Gruber's experiences at each race are as diverse as the terrain over which he must run. From facing extreme conditions at the Stinson Beach Trail Marathon in Marin County, California, to the beauty of running the Kona Marathon in Hawaii, Gruber faces a number of ups and downs as he struggles to continue to find funding for his attempt and face the physical fatigue associated with running so many races. A constant theme running through each of these experiences is the kindness of strangers throughout his effort to complete his task. As he describes, "Through sixty thousand miles of driving and sixty-five thousand miles of flying in fifty-two weeks, over and over, and over again, it was people--total strangers, who became my friends--who led the way to my success." From a chance encounter with a former Tour de France competitor, to the many people who offer food and a shelter in his travels from race to race, Gruber's book comes to encompass not just his own journey, but the contribution of the many people he meets along the way.

While Gruber ultimately succeeds in completing all 52 marathons, he falls short of his goal of raising one million dollars for leukemia research. However, he comes to realize that the publicity and money he does generate for leukemia coupled with his own personal growth along the way make his journey a success. As he describes, "I, an ordinary, middle-of- the-pack runner, middle-aged person, could go on to successfully accomplish a feat generally considered to be impossible." While it would have been nice to have learned a bit more about Gruber's own background in running and the process through which he chooses to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks, his book does an excellent job conveying his message that "Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things." Gruber is able to show that we each are capable of using our running to make a difference in other people's lives.

Editor note: Elaine Binkley recently graduated as a one of two Valectorians from Denison University where she has earned NCAA Division III All American honors twice in cross-country. She has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All- America (R) Women's Track & Field/Cross Country first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2005 and 2006. Elaine was recently selected the 2007 Academic All- America of the Year for the College Division in Cross Country and Track and Field. Read more on this honor at: http://www.runohio.com/archive/news/06-28- 07Binkley.html Binkley also earned All State honors in Cross Country and Track at Bishop Watterson High School.

The RUNOHIO's Book Review - A Closer Look at - explores various running books and is a regular column in RUNOHIO. - To have your book considered for reviewed, please send a copy to: Matt McGowan, c/ o RUNOHIO, 330 Spellman Street, Granville, OH 43023

Editor note: Elaine Binkley recently graduated as a one of two Valectorians from Denison University where she has earned NCAA Division III All American honors twice in cross-country. She has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All- America (R) Women's Track & Field/Cross Country first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2005 and 2006. Elaine was recently selected the 2007 Academic All- America of the Year for the College Division in Cross Country and Track and Field. Read more on this honor at: http://www.runohio.com/archive/news/06-28- 07Binkley.html Binkley also earned All State honors in Cross Country and Track at Bishop Watterson High School.

The RUNOHIO's Book Review - A Closer Look at - explores various running books and is a regular column in RUNOHIO. - To have your book considered for reviewed, please send a copy to: Matt McGowan, c/ o RUNOHIO, 330 Spellman Street, Granville, OH 43023

Check out the other RUNOHIO Book Reviews at - http://www.runohio.com/archive/news/index.html