Book Review: 26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career by Meb Keflezighi

I had planned on reading another book first but after listening to this podcast from LetsRun.com where they talked to Meb Keflezighi (interview starts at 51:28) I decided to read his new book first and glad I did.  So here is a short review and I hope it is enough to get you to want to read it.

If you read Meb's first book, Meb for Mortals, you learned much about what Meb did to be, and stay, a successful runner.  While getting some insights into his life from his first book most of the info was more directly running related.  In Meb's new book 26 Marathons:What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career he recounts the 26 marathons, yes his last marathon as a pro was his 26th, he ran.  While he indeed does recount the running specifics about each one, how things went and did not go, what is a greater takeaway from each chapter is what he learned about running and life from each.  These takeaways will be as beneficial to the recreational runner as it will be to the more competitive one.  We can all gain from learning the life lessons others glean from their races and there is much to learn from Meb's career

While I have followed Meb for his entire career as I have always admired how he ran, and where he came from, I really knew little of him other than how he got to the US and how a good, and versatile, a runner he was - that was about it.  One of the many things I have always liked about Meb is his desire to encourage other runners even while being a highly competitive runner - and you will see this in his book.  Often the career of a competitive athlete, especially that of the long distance runner, necessitates a level of self-centeredness but Meb genuinely seems to care for others and seeks to help them run and live better and this mindset flows through the book.

Meb reflects throughout the book how his philosophy of "run to win" is not limited to just getting first place but is seen in a more broader sense -  that of giving ones best.   By doing this, giving ones best, if one does not get first in a race, most do not, but runs their best they still win.  For some this may seem less than ideal for being competitive but as Meb shared, again, not every one will win any particular race but everyone can still learn something and in some manner win.  This is not the "Everyone get's a trophy" mentality that we often see but is more about how to have a healthy look at ones running - no matter how competitive one is.

26 Marathons starts with Meb's first marathon in New York with a 9th place finish in 2:12:35 and one that he initially wanted to be his last, thankfully it was not.  He moves though his other marathons and injuries including his 4 Olympic Trials Marathon Trials, making the team 3 times and his wins in New York in 2009 (Marathon #12) and Boston in 2014 (Marathon #19).  Not all the marathons went his way, or as he planned, but there was something to earn from each of them and we can learn from his lessons.  This also helps us to take a look at each race we do to see what can be learned from it and how it can be applied to running and life.

If you are not one to just sit down and read a book this book is the one for you.  It is set up well with each chapter being about one of the 26 marathons Meb ran with each chapter being only, at most, 10 pages long and flows very well.  Truth is you may find your self reading more than you thought as I did not want to put the book down as I wanted to learn about the next marathon and then the next.

Even if you do not run marathons, or run at all, I think this would be a valuable read as it will hopefully give you a great perspective on your running, riding or life in general.  I encourage you to get a copy and glean what you can from one of Americas best marathoners.

Other book reviews to check out:

• Run for Your Life - Mark Cucuzzella
• Fast After 50 - Joe Friel