Jared Beasley

The story of Al Howie is a remarkable and at times unbelievable adventure into the heart of the longest races in the world with one of modern history's most eccentric ultra-marathon runners. If you ran 7295 kilometres across Canada in 72 days, wearing three-ounce racing flats, then two weeks later took on the longest certified race on Earth and broke the world record (which happened to be your own), what would you be? Likely an alien. If you won 24-hour races and three-, six-, and seven-day races several times a year in your mid-40s, and ran marathons just for training, what would they call you? Crazy for sure. If you were forever broke and shipped your clothes on buses in order to run free of baggage for thousands of kilometres just to get to races, you'd be institutionalized. And if you did all these things and were institutionalized for the last 15 years of your life, you would be Al Howie. Al Howie was an eccentric among the extreme runners in the ultra-marathon world, and his life was as enigmatic as his runs. Based on interviews with Howie himself during his final two years (he died in 2016), Jared Beasley's book takes the reader into the amazing and complex world of an astounding figure in modern sports history.

In Search of Al Howie

Tom McGrath

In 1977, Tom McGrath crossed the United States in the record time of 53 days and seven minutes. Few would have guessed that he was a bar owner or that he would fight harder to stay sober than he ever did to keep running. With countless charity runs organized all over the world and his 10th bar still up and running in New York City, the question still remains, "Who is Tom McGrath?" "A compelling tale of an authentic man. Tom McGrath has lived a life with two great themes, one as a fearless ultramarathon runner, the other a harrowing descent into alcoholism. His is a story of rare heroic athletic achievement and personal survival. I could not put it down." - David Blaikie Ultra marathon World "A monument whose inscription offers truth to all who visit: the drinker;the smoker;the athlete; the Christian; the philosopher." - Jesse Riley Trans-Am Race Director 92-96"

Jared Beasley

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