The Long Run

Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and the Decade That Made the Marathon Cool

By: Martin Dugard

Narrated by: Matt Godfrey

The dramatic story behind the running and marathon boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, featuring the stories of Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and many others, about how a generation of runners turned the marathon into a national obsession

On September 3, 1970, the New York City Marathon was run for the first time. One hundred
twenty-seven runners paid a one-dollar entry fee, and only one woman competed. Fifty-four years later, nearly fifty thousand runners from all over the world finished the same race. Almost half were women. More than three times as many runners applied, and over two million spectators watched. Marathons are inclusive, fully global, and still exploding in popularity.

How did we get from there to here? As Martin Dugard, longtime runner, running coach,
and #1 New York Times bestselling author, explains, it was thanks to four very special runners who changed the way America, and the world, saw running. The Long Run celebrates these athletes— Frank Shorter, Steve Prefontaine, Joan Benoit, and Grete Waitz—and many more, sharing stories of the specific races and social movements that transformed running from a niche sport to a national obsession. It follows Shorter through his early training and his triumph in Munich; Prefontaine in his legendary races, disappointing Olympics, and tragic death; and Benoit and Waitz in their eleven hardwon duels before Benoit won the first women’s Olympic Marathon and Waitz broke the tape in the first of five New York City Marathon victories.

It is a story with big characters, enormous moments, and a historical arc that has never been completely explored. The Long Run will reveal how the sport of running, and the race that we all know and love, became iconic—and how “finishing a marathon” became a top bucket-list
goal for runners and non-runners alike.

Martin's accuracy and appreciation for the drive necessary to pursue running.

I loved every bit! I can picture Martin at age eleven, (approx) in Bellevue, Ne. being urged by his amazing mom who saw his potential and his need to burn off a lot of his energy...and encouraging running as she stimulated his drive and even ran with him sometimes. She directed and fed his intellectual appetite and adored him.
Bravo, Martin, and my friends Rosemary and Alan.

Great Read on the Running Boom of the 1970s and 2020s!

Good stuff! Solid voice recording. Happy I picked it up! I recommend it to marathon and distance runners everywhere.

Slipshod performance

Who is responsible for this mess?! Is it the narrator, the producer or the author?! Why have an audiobook if the narrator is unable to pronounce names?!