Bernd heinrichs book why we run

The goal here was to triumph over adversity, and finishing was no mean achievement, as proven by the 44 participants who dropped out despite the perfect weather.

The difficulties were by design. They make the achievement, for without them there is no such thing as accomplishment. I was experiencing something from a new era, my first trailrun. I had to walk at times, as did others. But stopping to walk here was not considered quitting. It was not shameful. My only goal, after a while, was indeed just to finish.

Finally, when I could see the foot of the mountain where I thought the finish might be and it seemed I might even make it—if I really tried hard. But it turned out that it was a deliberate? What an incomparable relief to finally see it up ahead and to somehow still be able to run the last hundred yards. Nevertheless, there was also the huge satisfaction in having done it.

Simply having finished canceled out the pain of exhaustion in minutes, and to my surprise and joy, my knees were perfectly fine the next day. The first woman, Lucy Skinner, age 26, finished second overall, beating all but one man. As would be expected, of the first 13 finishers, all but one were in their twenties and thirties, reminding me of my boyhood hero, the unbeatable Aussie Herb Elliott, who quit running at age My official time was accurate to a hundredth of a second, but it was as irrelevant to me as for everyone else.

Of the runners who finished, I finished rd, having outrun 16 percent of those aged 20 to 49 years of age and 30 percent of those 50 to 69 years, but I placed first of anyone 70 years old or over—in fact, I was the oldest person to finish the race by a margin of ten years.

I could still run with the crowd and was thankful for it. More than a race, the event was a worship ceremony. It was fittingly held all day on a Sunday, reminding me of the Good Will School in Maine, where in my teens, after the required Sunday attendance in the chapel, I would run back to my residence, Pike Cottage, change out of my church uniform of neatly ironed white shirt, tie, and suit jacket into shorts and a T-shirt, then run out into the woods on nature trails to hear the music of the birds and see the beauty all around.

There was no choir but instead a band. I had experienced my first trail run, a new model of running, the sequel to running that used to be for state, national, and international titles, if not also records. Running long distance has morphed into a new experience, a model that combines the supporting of charities through sponsorship funded by race entry fees , Nature appreciation by being geared to the natural setting , health for everyone everyone can choose his or her own goal , integration, and tolerance as it is of course open and inviting to everyone regardless of age, gender, nationality, race, or belief.

It either substitutes for religion or is becoming one, since it supports and promotes harmony and kinship with Nature, doing good, sympathy and concern for others as individuals, and a humbling to us as humans. We are part of a symbiosis with all of life, and the creatures we encountered were as well, and they were not insignificant in this new setting.

Ravens, using their specially designed front pair of limbs rather than our specially designed hind pair, had been flying overhead, swooping down the mountainside, catching the air, and winging their way up to do it again and again in the company of others of their kind, shouting at and with each other all the way in raucous voices we could never mimic, although they can and do mimic us. Blackpoll warblers Dendroica striata , which live on mountains all over the North American continent, were just then gathering and starting to travel their own challenging traditional route, a three-day, 1,mile, nonstop, fly-or-die flight down the eastern seaboard and across the Gulf of Mexico to South America.

Many of them would have already traveled across the continent from northern Alaska to the East Coast, never having done it before. In the spring they will take a different route, with a stopover in Florida on the way back to Alaska or to their spruce-topped home on a mountaintop in northern New England.

They do it, we say, because they are migrating to escape winter, and in the reverse direction to come back to nest in the spring. But let us never forget: the ravens and the warblers do it for the same reasons we do, like us runners on the mountain that day: they do it because they feel like doing it.

And how did evolution make them feel like doing it? The topic of his new book is the passage of time, the biological clock, and humanity's role as part of Earth's biological system. On the eve of turning eighty years old, Heinrich reflects on running, from high school cross country, to marathons and ultramarathons. He reflects on his career as an academic and his life as a human adoring the natural world. Although informative and occasionally poetic, Heinrich's prose can also be a bit dry at times.

Coming from the working world of biology lab reports doesn't exactly make one an exciting writer. Also, fans of Why We Run will find some stories repeated in Racing the Clock as the author reflects on his past yet again, only with a new guiding concept. By the conclusion of this book, though, Heinrich leaves the reader with an uplifting and hopeful meditation on unity through nature and running. Oct 05, Candace rated it liked it.

I don't know that I'd recommend this book to anyone in particular, but overall it did earn that third star for me toward the end. Finally in Ch. But let us never forget: the ravens and the warblers do it for the same reasons we [run] And how did evolution make them feel like doing it?

By linking the activity to a flow of endorphins that make it fun and - if important enough - irresistible.

So it is for the joy of it, with no thought of an ultimate reward. Oct 27, Mike rated it liked it. Heinrich is an unbelievable athlete capable of translating his sprawling running career in a thoughtful way, and this worked best for me during his flashes of insight where I really felt the poetry of running, all the joy and anguish of his experiences.

But where I was expecting a deep dive on the physical science of our bodies as we age and its impact on running or vice versa , what I got instead was a scattershot autobiography and overstuffed accounts of his field work there are only so many Heinrich is an unbelievable athlete capable of translating his sprawling running career in a thoughtful way, and this worked best for me during his flashes of insight where I really felt the poetry of running, all the joy and anguish of his experiences.

But where I was expecting a deep dive on the physical science of our bodies as we age and its impact on running or vice versa , what I got instead was a scattershot autobiography and overstuffed accounts of his field work there are only so many chapters on grant funding around moths and dung beetles I can handle. More "Racing the Clock: Running Across a Lifetime" please, and less "here's a long story about hunting a deer and collecting pupal exoskeletons"!

Oct 15, Patricia Burgess rated it liked it. Heinrich, a biologist and ultrarunner, explores the connection amongst humans, plants, and humans, seeking answers to why we age, ways our metabolism, food choices, and exercise may affect our longevity. He weaves stories of his running, becoming a naturalist insects, primarily , and his research into insect thermodynamics, flight patterns, and other behaviors. An ode to running and to biology, this short memoir is a delightful read.

I preferred the more science-focused "Why We Run", which is probably one of his seminal works for non-scientists. Aug 19, Greg Zimmerman rated it liked it. Really fascinating anecdotes about running -- this dude was one of the first champion ultra runners in the s when no one was running ultras, and NO ONE was running them as fast as he did -- alternate with deep-dives into beetle and moth biology Hard to blame the guy -- as much as running is part of his life, so too is biology, and so he can't help himself giving us a several page summary of his college thesis, etc.

Which is fine. But I was here for the r Really fascinating anecdotes about running -- this dude was one of the first champion ultra runners in the s when no one was running ultras, and NO ONE was running them as fast as he did -- alternate with deep-dives into beetle and moth biology But I was here for the running.

Sep 01, David Kessler rated it liked it. A memoir of Bernd Heinrich which goes into great detail his life spent racing: road races, marathon races, mile runs, 24 hour runs. He set some records for his age group. He also talks about his accomplishments in his specialty field in science.

He has run all his life as a high school trackster, in college and during his adult life. If you enjoy reading about racing at any long distance, you will love the book Oct 16, Megan rated it liked it. This is part memoir, part biology textbook. The author has run his entire life and is also a biologist. Now, as an 80 year old, he still runs. Oct 03, Teegan rated it it was ok. Rambly and not always cohesive.

Aug 21, Jacinta rated it liked it Shelves: , own , biography-history , running. Not really what I expected at all, but a delightful memoir switching back and forth between biological discoveries and running experiences. Aug 14, Jim Lyons rated it really liked it.

More than I needed of the running memories, BUT the beginning and end were very interesting comparing life and aging "across nature". Sep 01, Chip Redihan rated it really liked it Shelves: An enjoyable read. I would have liked more running anecdotes but that just means I will read Heinrichs other books. Jul 24, Jean F. West rated it really liked it. Not exactly what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. Robert rated it really liked it Jul 28, Dan Thompson rated it really liked it Aug 30, Brendan Glover rated it really liked it Sep 19, Heinrich is professor emeritus at the University of Vermont, out of which he still teaches, yearly, a winter ecology course.

At the heart of these varied interests is this: Heinrich is in love with nature. These 35 essays, which have appeared before in Natural History magazine and elsewhere, are his attempt to show the reader how science, at its foundation, is done. Nearly every essay begins with some observation: a tiger swallowtail caterpillar on a hickory leaf that remains exactly in place day after day, yet gets larger by the day; an ice storm hits and some trees break under the weight of the ice and others do not; tiny golden-crowned kinglets survive severe Maine winters with very high body temperatures.

Heinrichs observations are keen, perceptive and imbued with knowledge gleaned over a lifetime. This is natural history at its finest, how observations are the spring board into investigations into the nature of reality. He mulls over what he has seen. Things have caught his eye because they are odd, out of place, not what one would expect.

Yet, to an evolutionary biologist, nothing is random. Traits and behaviors have functions. What is happening here? Heinrich is good at devising simple experiments that get at the heart of the question.