Duel in the Sun: The Story of Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon Book

This is the story of probably the most epic marathon of all time, Boston 1982. It is also a biography of the two frontrunners, Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley - their backgrounds, what motivated them, what they did afterward. As a runner, it's fascinating to read about what compels these people to race THAT HARD and how it affects them, and it's fascinating, for me at least, to read about the mysteries of sports injuries. But it's a character story as much as a race report, one that's simultaneously triumphant and heartbreaking, tragic and life-affirming. Some limits you can obliterate if you try hard enough. Some you can't.

I took a star off because at times the narrative is cumbersome and melodramatic, and hard to keep track of the switching back and forth between characters and moments in time. But overall it's absorbing, impactful, and incredibly well researched. After reading mostly magazine, newspaper and internet articles for quite a long time, it made me really appreciate reading something with enough space to lay out all the details and background. Some books, especially nonfiction, tend to repeat themselves and make me wish the author had been satisfied with a nice 5-7 page feature, but Brant doesn't, he's just really thorough.