The Incomplete Book of Running by Peter Sagal
Peter Sagal, the host of NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner’s World , shares “commentary and reflection about running with a deeply felt personal story, this book is winning, smart, honest, and affecting. Whether you are a runner or not, it will move you” (Susan Orlean).
On the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal—brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio—started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running fourteen marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings.
In The Incomplete Book of Running , Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he’s traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear—in St. Louis, in February—or attempting to “quiet his colon” on runs around his neighborhood—to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners, and the triumphant post-bombing running of the Boston Marathon in 2014. With humor and humanity, Sagal also writes about the emotional experience of running, body image, the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is “a brilliant book about running…What Peter runs toward is strength, understanding, endurance, acceptance, faith, hope, and charity” (P.J. O’Rourke).
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
The Reason
I’m a beginner runner and trying to get myself motivated by reading memoirs about running. I loved Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running and I went looking for more.
The Quotes
“Perhaps you would like to start running. You never have tried before, or you did and you hated it, and now you wonder how to begin moving in a way that will keep you going. Get up. Start. Go. Move. Take a rusty first step, like the Tin Man. You will squeak. Go.”
“We simply accept each other as we are, for in any other direction lies madness.”
“You step outside, because real running is done outside, dammit, in the open air, where the endorphins hide.”
“I had always believed that suffering was a requirement for anything worthwhile: art, educational success, professional achievement, marriage, parenthood. On this day, I had found another way, though it had taken thousands of miles to get here.”
The Narrator(s)
The author himself, Peter Sagal.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book! I love the author’s humor, and the reference of this book’s title and cover to The Complete Book of Running by James Fixx. It was interesting reading about the author’s experience running at the Boston Marathon Bombing event, and I loved learning more about being a guide for blind runners. Not that I would qualify at the current level I’m at, but maybe someday.
There were parts of the book I didn’t like and couldn’t relate to. He talks about his divorce in a way that makes me feel that maybe he was the problem, which to be fair, we’re all allowed to make mistakes and grow from them, but there didn’t seem to be any self-reflection about it. However, I came for the running parts, and I enjoyed reading about the running parts. I wish there were more running parts!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
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