Dean Karnazes Reviews

Amazon.com
Ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes claims "There is magic in misery." While it would be easy to write off his habit of running for 100 miles at a time—or longer—as mere masochism, it's impossible to not admire his tenacity in pushing his body to reach one extreme goal after another. Sure, it's gory to read about how he lost one of his big toenails from shoe friction during the Western States Endurance Run. But what registers more is that here's a guy competing in an event that includes 38,000 feet of elevation change--the equivalent of scaling the Empire State Building 30 times.

Despite his considerable athleticism, "Karno" argues that the first half of any race is run with one's body, and the second half with the mind. Without delving into excessively touchy-feely territory, he explores "the possibilities of self" as he completes an ultra-marathon in 120-degree heat in Death Valley, and later the first-ever marathon at the South Pole. It's an odd combination: a California surfer dude contemplating how, as Socrates said, "Suffering leads to wisdom." But Karnazes's self-motivation is utterly intriguing, and it's impossible to read this memoir without wanting to go out and run a marathon yourself.--Erica Jorgensen

From Publishers Weekly
Many would see running a marathon as the pinnacle of their athletic career; thrill-seeker Karnazes didn't just run a marathon, he ran the first marathon held at the South Pole. The conditions were extreme—"breathing the superchilled air directly [without a mask] could freeze your trachea"—yet he craved more. Also on his résumé: completing the Western States 100-mile endurance run and the Badwater 135-mile ultramarathon through Death Valley (which he won), as well as a 199-mile relay race... with only himself on his team. This running memoir (written without a coauthor) paints the picture of an insanely dedicated—some may say just plain insane—athlete. In high school, Karnazes ran cross-country track, but when his favorite coach retired, he quit the sport. Fifteen years later, on his 30th birthday (in 1992), on the verge of an early midlife crisis, he threw on his old shoes and ran 30 miles on a whim. The invigorating feeling compelled him to pursue the world of ultramarathons (any run longer than 26.2 miles). "Never," Karnazes writes, "are my senses more engaged than when the pain sets in." Yet his masochism is a reader's pleasure, and Karnazes's book is intriguing. Casual runners will find inspiration in Karnazes's determination; nonathletes will have the evidence once and for all that runners are indeed a strange breed.
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Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005
Charming and surprisingly quirky, providing the perfect escapist fantasy for couch potatoes and weekend warriors alike.

Book Description
There are those of us whose idea of the ultimate physical challenge is the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. And then there is Dean Karnazes. Karnazes has run 226.2 miles nonstop; he has completed the 135-mile Badwater Ultramara-thon across Death Valley National Park-considered the world's toughest footrace-in 130-degree weather; and he is the only person to complete a marathon to the South Pole in running shoes (and probably the only person to eat an entire pizza and a whole cheesecake while running).

Karnazes is an ultramarathoner: a member of a small, elite, hard-core group of extreme athletes who race 50 miles, 100 miles, and longer. They can run forty-eight hours and more without sleep, barely pausing for food or water or even to use the bathroom. They can scale mountains, in brutally hot or cold weather, pushing their bodies, minds, and spirits well past what seems humanly possible.

Ultramarathon Man is Dean Karnazes's story: the mind-boggling adventures of his nonstop treks through the hell of Death Valley, the incomprehensible frigidity of the South Pole, and the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and canyons of the Sierra Nevada. Karnazes captures the euphoria and out-of-body highs of these adventures.

With an insight and candor rarely seen in sports memoirs, he also reveals how he merges the solitary, manic, self-absorbed life of hard-core ultrarunning with a full-time job, a wife, and two children, and how running has made him who he is today: a man with an überjock's body, a teenager's energy, and a champion's wisdom.

About the Author
Dean Karnazes, who was named one of the Top 10 Ultimate Athletes by Outside magazine , is president of EnergyWell Natural Foods in San Francisco.

THE MAN INTRIGUED ME..., March 29, 2005

Reviewer:
Tim Janson (Michigan)s

i read this book in one day after seeing a piece that 60 minutes did on him as well as Dean's female rival. The amazing thing about these two as well as many of the runners who compete in the badwater is that they are not young by any means. I think this is a real inspiration to those of us in our 40's who think that athletics is for the young. if any thing, I think the maturity of Dean and the others is one of their greatest strenghts in running these ultra-marathons. It not only takes enourmous athletic ability, but also incredible discipline to pace yourself and an unbelievable tolerance for pain.

Dean's stories of stopping at the 7-11 store or ordering a pizza while running are hilarious and I did not find him to be sexist in anyway, especially since he was defeated by a woman twice in the badwater run. This is a truly inspiring story not only for athletes, but for people in general as Dean clearly displays that running these races is not all about body it's just as much, if not more, about having a strong mind and will. Something that people can apply in their everyday life.

This really was one of the most inspirational and fulfilling books I've read in quite some time.

Insane, February 25, 2006

Reviewer:
Peter M. Lum (Riverside, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Dean Karnazes is one sick puppy. I'm a marathon runner, so when I heard about the guy who ran 300 miles straight (over 11 full marathons) I had to read his book. By the time he wrote the book the longest continuous run he had done was "only" 199 miles. It's amazing the boundaries this guy has surpased. The first time he ran it, it took him 46 hours and he ate 28,000 Calories! The book is a very fast read. It'll take less time to read than to run the Western States 100. As you may guess, part of the book is a little repetative. After all, he's just running, but the book is inspirational. Reading the book makes me want to start on my goal of completing an ironman. Even if you're not an endurance athlete, you'll still be amazed at tenacity of Karnazes.

Unbelievable Read, February 16, 2006

Reviewer:
Michael Ferrini "des" (boston, ma) - See all my reviews

Probably the best book I've ever read. It's amazing how Dean was capable to turning things around in his life and able to achieve a level of self-fulfillment through his running. Very inspirational.

Great runner, mediocre book, December 31, 2005

Reviewer:
J. Minatel "jimmin" (Fishers, IN USA)

There are a couple of levels that any autobiography has to be judged on. For one, is the book well written, are the stories it tells worth reading? Two, is the subject worth reading about? And in the case of a relative unknown like Dean Karnazes, is he worth knowing about.

As a former runner (never more than marathons myself though) I find the ultramarathon and any ultra endurance event fascinating. I marvel at Dean's stories of preparation and the play by play for a few major races (his first Western States 100, Badwater, and a 199 mile relay he ran solo). Those play by play accounts of races plus an excursion to the South Pole compise about 3/4 of this lightweight little book. Dean isn't much of a writer and apparently he didn't use a ghost like Lance did for "It's Not About the Bike" so the writing quality is unfortunately what you'd expect from a professional software marketer. However, few athletes or anyone interesting for that matter outside of the creative arts writes all that well in an autobio anyway, so we'll cut him some slack for that.

What is hard to cut him any slack for though are the terrible cliches in the writing. Maybe he really remembers his running coaches the way he describes them but it stretches credibility to believe that any of them could have been as cliche as he describes. And, as a recreational runner, I'd always had this romantic notion of the thoughts that inspire ultramarathoners being more weighty than "Pain is weakness leaving the body" which I see on every high school team atheletic t-shirt. An ultramarathon finisher really said that to him during a race? again, just hard to believe.

Is Dean worth reading about? Sure, if you are a junkie for endurance events or human limits, this book is a quick easy and worthwhile read.

But, there are also so many things about the book that made it painful to read. I can't guess the number of times he proclaimed his own humility, that he's essentially anonymous and very few people know of his running obsession. Maybe at one time both of these statements were true but in reading the book, we get a picture of someone who's anything but humble. He clearly wants the world to see him as the greatest endurance runner ever. The types of goals he sets for himself and the publicity he's generated around the book speak to anything but humility.

Some of that is offset by the great work he does turning his running passion into charity for children needing organ transplants and other causes. That's admirable, but in his retelling of the story of the first time he did the 199 mile relay solo to raise money for a transplant recipient could easily give one the inpression that he was using the notariety for that charity as much for himself as for her, with the TV cameras following him on the course and the made for TV sound bites he recounted.

Dean also claims to be a model father and husband and maybe he is. Maybe his wife and children are perfectly happy making the sacrifices they do for him and they wouldn't have it any other way. But it's hard to reconcile his self-description as the close to perfect spouse and father with the story of the recklessness of taking a 6 month old child to Death Valley for badwater, or of spending more than 3 weeks in Antartica to "run" the world's first marathon at the South Pole while wife and 2 young children waited home without daddy not know if he was alive, or of training for his first Western States 100 while his wife was studying for dental licensuing exams. Some men are cut out to be adventurers and explorers and to test the limits of the human body and spirit and clearly Dean is one of these. But he shouldn't try to bowl us over with how humble he is too. He's clearly one of the most self-centered people I've ever read about.

But of all the annoying things that come through about his personality, the best comes with a large dose of irony. On page 212 he retells with great pride in his sense of humor and wit the story of him sending a tampon to a first time male finisher of a shorter ultramarathon and how once this other guy finished his 4th Western States, he could finally live that down. And 2 pages later he gives the only mention in the whole book to the fact that there are some incredible female ultrarunners.

So what's the irony? How about a guy who sent a tampon to a male friend getting BEAT BY FEMALE ultramarathoner Pam Reed not once but TWICE at the Badwater Ultramarathon. How about her beating him to his much publicized goal of being the first person to run 300 miles non-stop. I wonder if anyone sent Dean a congratulatory tampon after that?

Lastly, sadly, Dean talks repeatedly about the inspiration he takes from running for his dead younger sister who was tragically killed too young in a car accident. I lost a younger sibling way too young too and I know the emptiness it leaves but I feel sorry for Dean, still running for the dead instead of living life for the living.

The Triumph of the Spirit, November 13, 2005

Reviewer:
Tucker Andersen (Wall Street) - See all my reviews

I met Dean Karnazes by happenstance at his book signing after I had registered for the 2005 NYC Marathon. While I was previously unaware of his exploits, the more we talked the more awed I became by the magnitude of his accomplishents. We quickly developed a brief camaraderie and had a wonderful conversation when he heard that I would be attempting to complete my thirtieth consecutive NYC Marathon (including one run with two cracked ribs) and had last missed a day of running on February 5, 1992. While I am obviously no where near as talented or dedicated (obsessed or crazy in the judgment of some people) a runner as is Dean, he understood that I shared his passion for the sport and its ability to transform your life and help you test your own limits and even redefine your self-image. Reading his book in the days immediately after my race hasprovided me great joy even while putting my minimal achievements in perspective. The level of inspiration which I received from this book is equal to that which I received relatively early in my running career from James Shapiro's unforgettable classic about his experiences running across America, MEDITATIONS FROM THE BREAKDOWN LANE.

I am sure that readers of various backgrounds will have widely varying reactions to Dean's story. Casual athletes and occasional joggers will undoubtedly be awestruck and perhaps a few may even be inspired to step up their conditioning and goals to a much higher level. Those individuals who already compete in such events as the Ironman Triathalon and other ultraendurance competitions will undoubtedly both admire his achievements and feel an immediate kinship based upon the pain and elation common to their experiences. The majority of readers will probably just shake their heads in amazement and occasionally chuckle at the absurdity of the situations which Dean encounters during his endeavors; a few will undoubtedly refuse to believe that such exploits are possible. If this story were a work of fiction it would certainly be dismissed as so unrealistic as to be of no interest; it is only the fact that this is a true story which makes it such an absorbing read.

The reader first meets Dean in a wonderful vignette; he is running down a highway in the middle of the night during a long race and ordering a pizza delivery on his cellphone. Right away we know that this book will be both interesting and fun. The story then flashes back to his childhood years and proceeds chronologically to the present. Dean was a talented young runner who quit his high school track team in his freshman year over a difference in philosophy with his coach and didn't run again for fifteen years. The direction of his life was further changed during his freshman year in college when his younger sister Pary was killed in a tragic automobile accident. We next jump to the night of his thirtieth birthday celebration in 1992, when fate intervened and changed his life forever. As it is being narrated, the story of his spur of the moment all night run in his tennis shoes and jockey shorts appears to be one of the probable highlights of the book; however, it is only a pale prologue of the events to follow. Serendipity soon intervenes again, and Dean becomes obsessed by the prospect of participating in the grueling and legendary Western States Endurance Run, a mountainous and incredibly challenging 100 mile race that most participants do not complete and even fewer manage to gain the coveted silver belt buckle, which is only presented to those who complete the course (including fording the rivers) in 24 hours or less.

Subsequent to that event, where the runner's familiar worry, the letters DNF (Did Not Finish) becomes the more serious yet hopeful abbreviation Did Nothing Fatal, he was of course driven to look for new challenges in defining the limits of his endurance. He eventually completed many amazing feats, including participating in the first (and perhaps only) marathon to be run in Antarctica to the South Pole, winning the Badwater 135 mile Ultramarathon through Death Valley (after learning from one of his few disappointments) in 120 degree temperatures which mwlted the soles of his shoes, and perhaps most amazingly running a 199 mile relay race as a one man team while the other teams consisted of twelve runners each running three legs of approximately five and a half miles. He is truly ULTRAMARATHON MAN.

As I hope my description makes clear, this is an amazing and inspiring story of self discovery and the expansion of the bounds of human achievement. It totally resonated with me, and I have already recounted some of my favorite episodes numerous times to my family and friends. In addition, the style is conversational and very easy to read, although it can be hard to put down when the reader becomes totally immersed in the details of some of the major achievements which have shaped Dean's life. And before he finishes his story, he will even answer the existential question which his quest raises - why does he run?

Good luck Dean - may you succeed in whatever you attempt next!

Tucker Andersen

Dean=great real-life storyteller, September 17, 2005

Reviewer:
Roving Writer (W. Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews
I was lucky enough to be on a book panel with Dean Karnazes this summer. Although I had not heard of ultramarathoning before, I was mesmerized by his verbal account of the sport, bought and devoured his book all in one day. Although I run, athletics is not the main focus of my life -- yet I found that Karnazes's passion is something to which a high achiever in any field can relate. He just "has to do it," and probably a lot of other readers understand his motivation.

Some reviewers here commented on perceived sexism, but I did not sense that at all from Karnazes in person (I'm female). He seemed completely devoted to his wife and children, but also to acknowledging all runners -- male and female -- fully for their accomplishments. I wish readers could understand that recognizing this man's achievments, outlook on life, and sense of humor, will never detract from the victories of other athletes.

The book is a page-turner, poignant and hilarious at the same time. Karnazes takes you into his conflicted corporate life, his early childhood, his impetus for running (out-of-shape and celebrating at his 30th birthday in a San Franciso bar, he decided to run 30 miles to Half Moon Bay in whatever he happened to be wearing on body and foot -- and never looked back); in short, the struggles that everyman can relate to, whether Olympian or couch potato. Reading it has made me re-revaluate my own life and actions, and to appreciate the smallest things in the relationships around me.

This isn't a book about running. It's a book about the incredible riches life can offer -- if only you reach out for the gold ring. Even if you're a competing ultramarathoner, read it! And keep an open mind to what lies ahead for YOU.

Ummmm...it's just running., September 15, 2005

Reviewer:
Eric E. Rinderer "rindeee" (St. Louis) - See all my reviews

Albeit running for a really really long distance, but alas, when you're finished, it's still just one foot in front of the other. I am an ultra-runner...I get it. It's different, but it's not "mysterious" or "crazy"...it's just like anything else that you put your mind to. I get a lot more staisfaction out of ultra-running than out of going out for a 5 or 10k, but it's a very subjective thing. In the end it's just about enjoying yourself, being healthy, etc. I've taken a lot of pleasure in meeting other ultra-runners, mostly becuase they tend to be very humble folks just out to challenge themselves. Dean certainly breaks that mold.