Book Review: My Life On The Run by Bart Yasso

Product Description

     Dubbed the "Mayor of Running," Bart Yasso is one of the best-known figures in the sport, but few people know why he started running competitively, how it changed his life, or how his brush with a crippling illness nearly ended his career a decade ago. With insight and humor, My Life on the Run chronicles the heatstroke and frostbite, heartache and triumphs he’s experienced while competing in more than 1,000 competitive races during his nearly 30 years with Runner’s World magazine.

     Yasso gives valuable and practical advice on how to become a runner for life and continually draw joy from the sport. He also offers practical guidance for beginners, intermediate, and advanced runners, such as 5-K, half-marathon, and marathon training schedules including his innovative technique known as the Yasso 800s.

     Recounting his adventures in exotic locales like Antarctica, Africa, and Chitwan National Park in Nepal (where he was chased by an angry rhino), Yasso recommends the best exotic marathons for runners who want to grab their passports to test themselves on foreign terrain. With the wit and wisdom of a seasoned insider, he tells runners what they need to know to navigate the logistics of running in an unfamiliar country.

     Yasso’s message is this: Never limit where running can take you because each race has the potential for adventure.

My Thoughts

This was a great read. I bought this book after listening to him speak at the pasta dinner for the Quad Cities Marathon. He shared some of the stories from the book and I just had to read about his other adventures.

You are not going to gain a lot of knowledge about running strategies from this book. What you will gain is an appreciation for the running world and how cool the world really is. He has been all over and has been able to witness the true essence of the human spirit.

The back of the book does contain some training plans. I have not used them, but look like something beneficial to incorporate.

If you need a good read with some great laughs, some powerful stories, some interesting characters, and good old storyteller Bart Yasso at the forefront, then this book is for you.