Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

Amazon Best Books of the Month, June 2012: While many of us sit behind a desk for eight or nine hours a day, Scott Jurek is running. A legend among hard-core runners, Jurek has fashioned a lucrative career as an ultramarathoner. He runs, and wins, grueling races in excess of 100 miles, in a wide array of usually inhospitable environments: Death Valley, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Mexico s Copper Canyon. And he does it on a completely plant-based diet. In Eat and Run, Jurek tells the story of how an average Midwestern kid growing up on meat he caught or killed himself became a vegan elite athlete. Part memoir, part training guide, part vegan manifesto, Jurek s most inspiring proposal here is that running like so many things in life is less dependent on physical skill than it is on willpower. Runners of all levels, meat-eaters, and vegans alike will be inspired to lace up their sneaks and hit the trails. --Juliet Disparte

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The Tarahumara were known for their grace and speed. The fastest and most graceful of them all was Arnulfo Quimare, and to this day I consider him one of my noblest competitors.In 2005, two weeks after my seventh consecutive Western States 100 victory, I set out to conquer the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile endurance slog through Death Valley. Mile 12, 120 degrees, and I'm leading. What could go wrong?At 48miles in, I was over 5 miles behind, considered quitting, and decided that yes, those who described the insanity of the Badwater were right.In 2010, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman interviewed me. Before any questions, he opened his fridge and asked me to prepare a meal. I whipped up a veggie and tofu stir fry with homemade Indonesian almond sauce and quinoa.