Book Review: Choosing to Run

 

Choosing to Run

A Memoir

by Des Linden

Pub Date 04 Apr 2023 

 PENGUIN GROUP Dutton,  Dutton

 Biographies & Memoirs 

I am reviewing a copy of Choosing to Run through Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley:

Des woke up on April 16, 2018, the morning of the Boston Marathon to a 39 degrees and rainy day.  The weather didn't bother her.  In fact, she thought it might be a blessing. She was far from peak form recovering from illness and questioning her running future and didn’t expect much of herself that day.

As she ticked off mile after mile in the brutal conditions, passing familiar landmarks on the course she knew and loved, something shifted. Opportunity unexpectedly presented itself. Des tapped into her inner strength and found a reason to race.

Des took the lead and never relinquished it, becoming the 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des took the lead and never relinquished it, becoming the 2018 Boston Marathon champion and the first American woman to win the race in thirty-three years, coming off at Heartbreak Hill at Mile 22.  Des became the first American woman to win the race in thirty-three years. 

Her career has always been defined by tenacity and an independent spirit, stretching back to her first competitive race in San Diego, when she beat better-outfitted, more experienced kids. Des was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University, and as her collegiate years wound down, she decided she wasn’t done with the sport. Des gambled on herself and moved to Michigan to give professional running a try. As she rose through the elite ranks, she became increasingly determined to do things her way in an industry often bound by the status quo.

I give Choosing to Run five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!