Book : Run The World by Becky Wade

245km
Challenge Series 2:  51km of 125km

This book is fully titled Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe.

Becky Wade is US college runner (which is a big thing, its a whole career by itself) who, unsure what to do after college ends, takes up a Watson Scholarship. The scholarship grants recipients money to spend one year traveling in pursuit of their projects. Becky is not only very talented in running, she really does love running A LOT, so that's her project - travel the world to experience other running cultures.

The book is interesting, because

1. The subject itself is interesting. Yes, I would like to know how athletes of different nationalities and continents train, eat, think.
2. Becky writes beautifully. It's easy to get caught in her narration and get lost in her excitement.
3. Becky is really nice! She writes about all the things she experinces, but underneath all that Becky comes across as a genuinely nice person. I would love her to have her be my girlfriend!

I enjoyed following her through all the running cultures she experienced. 3,500 miles through UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden and Finland. Becky stayed with hosts throughout her journey, and followed them on their training run, while telling us about the running cultures specific to each country.

At the end of the book Becky runs a local marathon (and wins). There's a mile by mile play on what she is thinking in that race. I found this fascinating - long-distance running is always a mental game and I love the peek into what goes through an elite runner's mind.

I think I really enjoyed this book also because it's a girl experience. A guy with the same project will have a different experience - the places he stays, the people he meets, and the training runs he goes to will all be vastly different.

I do hope Becky will write another book. Something more on herself and her training.