“Do you wanna be somebody, Jerker? Do you wanna BE somebody?” — Dusty Olson, Scott’s friend and pacer extraordinaire
“Sometimes you just do things” is a mantra that Scott Jurek learned from his often strict and unrelenting father at a very young age. It is repeated throughout his recently released book Eat & Run – My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness. More than a memoir, this book chronicles Scott’s life from his rural roots in Northern Minnesota to becoming one of the World’s most successful ultrarunners. The book combines Scott’s compelling story with training, nutrition and injury prevention tips. The book even closes each chapter with one of Scott’s favorite recipes. I, for one, am looking forward to putting my culinary skills to the test and trying some of these recipes.
If you are not familiar with Scott Jurek’s list of accomplishments, it includes seven consecutive wins at the prestigious (and highly-competitive) Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, North America’s premier ultramarathon. Jurek also has two wins at the grueling Badwater 135-mile run from Death Valley to the Mount Whitney Portals. He is a three-time champ of Greece’s 245Km (152-mile) Spartathlon, and is the US 24-hour record holder having run over 165-miles in one day. Over the past two decades Scott has amassed many other wins and course records along the way.
I had the pleasure of meeting Scott on a couple of occasions. I first met him at the Vermont 100-miler in 2004, then again at Miwok 100K in 2008, where he stayed and greeted all runners at the finish line although he had completed his run many hours earlier. This is one of the many character traits that make Scott such a likeable guy.
I also took some on-line training sessions with him in 2005 and was lucky enough to hear firsthand accounts of his 7th Western States win and first Badwater title during our engaging bi-weekly phone conversations. Furthermore, during this time Scott was preparing for his first trip to run in the Copper Canyon with the Tarahumara Indians, a race immortalized in Christopher McDougall’s hugely successful book Born to Run.
The training sessions were extremely helpful and Scott’s advice helped me overcome some stomach issues that I had struggled with for many years during my own ultras. He introduced me to the concept of incorporating speed work into my long runs and I have conserved my notes from our email and phone exchanges which I regularly re-read to refresh my memory and tweak my training. But what struck me most about Scott was how humble and down-to-earth he was despite his talent, fame and success. Scott was not judgmental of my eating habits (I am not a vegan like him) and he did not preach or impose any training and nutrition regimens onto me. He merely shared what worked for him and suggested ways for me to experiment with change and recommended books and other resources to help me with my own investigation. This practice is consistent throughout his book as well.
Growing up with two younger siblings and a mother suffering from multiple sclerosis, Scott was therefore responsible for countless household chores. He worked hard cooking and cleaning around the house and maintained excellent grades at school. Scott’s mother’s illness inspired him and would later steer Scott towards a career in physical therapy. His cooking responsibilities as a kid undoubtedly spawned an interest for food preparation.
The family’s financial situation did not allow Scott to participate in many little league teams, so he ran cross-country at school and later joined the ski team to nurture his love of the outdoors. It was during ski racing season that Scott met his pal, the talented and colorful Dusty “Dustball” Olson. Dusty ultimately introduced Scott to the world of ultra marathons thus helping Scott discover his passion for trail running and unleash his talent onto the running community. Dusty’s carefree personality, his no-nonsense tough love towards Scott during races and his often blunt and questionable outbursts to rival runners provides comic relief throughout Eat & Run.
Jurek’s bold pre-race predictions might come across as arrogance to some, but like other elite athletes, this is simply a sign of confidence in his training and hard-work. Although Scott believed that he had trained as hard as possible and trusted he could always compete for the top spot on the podium, he still at times questioned his diet. Once a hunter, fisherman and lover of fast-food restaurants, Scott converted to a vegetarian (vegan) diet early in his ultra career. Was he getting enough protein and iron to sustain the effort required to run 100 (or more) miles? Would a healthier diet make him run faster? Scott did his scientific research and has proven that it is possible to have a plant-based diet and still succeed in this sport. He coherently shares morsels of this research in his book without losing the reader with too much hard to understand scientific jargon.
Although I was familiar with the outcome of most of Scott’s races, his lyrical prose as he describes the challenges encountered along the various courses creates an attention-grabbing page turner. While Scott was winning races around the World, he wasn’t immune to personal struggles. In Eat & Run Scott candidly shares his marital and financial pains. He is upfront about his rocky relationship with his father and does not downplay his low points in races and in life in general.
You don’t need to be a runner (let alone an ultra runner) nor do you need to prescribe to veganism to appreciate this book. In reading it, be prepared to be inspired. The book might even encourage you to do more and to be more. You will see that a person is capable of achieving greatness if they put their minds to it. You will not learn any secret shortcuts to winning some of the toughest races around. Heck that takes a lot of hard work, dedication and some innate talent. But most importantly, Eat & Run will force you to re-think your diet, discover the power of food, and hopefully persuade you to lead a healthier, and perhaps a more earth-friendly lifestyle.
Scott is currently on a book tour across the U.S. and even on other continents. In many major cities he is hosting group runs followed by a speaking engagement, usually at a book or health food store. Although no Canadian appearances have been scheduled, I am hoping Scott Jurek will speak at a nearby city at some point. If he does, I would strongly recommend attending it, but please save me a ticket!
Gotta run,
Vince
Note: There’s another Scott Jurek book out there. It is titled: Extreme Sports – Ultra Running with Scott Jurek by Jim Whiting. I ordered this book a couple of years ago and got an amusing surprise when it arrived in the mail. I apparently had not read the book’s description. As it turns out, it is a “Robbie Reader” children’s book! Oh well, it’ll make a good Christmas gift for one of my grandchildren in the future and hopefully it will inspire them to run ultras one day.
You can order your copy of the books by clicking on the image of he book cover. Please feel free to leave a commen below.
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