The Devil whispered in my ear: ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’
I whispered back: ‘I am the storm.’
This is from the introductory chapters of Adharanand Finn’s new book, The Rise of the Ultra Runners. The quote is from a tattoo on the leg of Spanish ultra runner Azaria Garcia. Finn is investigating why ultra-running is gaining so much popularity. He wonders if the quote describes one of the main appeals of ultra-running – “…where we stand face to face with the Devil, the depths of the struggle, but then to rise up and overcome it,”. This is one of the many interesting topics covered in Finn’s tour de force on everything ultra running. Finn’s book covers a broad range of topics from the origins of the sport to the current state of affairs.
This is the second book that I’ve read by Adharanand Finn. I read Finn’s first book, Running with the Kenyans, last year and really enjoyed it. The book recounts Finn’s experience of moving to Kenya and training with the best marathoners in the world. Although I enjoyed the book, I haven’t run a marathon in years. I was very happy to see that Finn had written about my sport, ultra running. In Rise of the Ultra Runners, Finn tells his tale of finishing a very impressive 10 ultra marathons in 18 months. I was particularly taken with this book because Finn was working towards his goal of racing in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) in Chamonix. This has been a long term goal of mine and I was set to race the UTMB Val D’Aran in Spain this July before it was canceled due to Covid-19. I would have received guaranteed entry into UTMB Chamonix had I finished UTMB Val D’Aran.
I was very moved by Finn’s re-telling of his races. It is remarkable how well Finn captures the emotions of ultra running. Finn had me close to tears at several different parts of his book. From his emotional roller coaster at his 24 hour, indoor track race to his epic journey at the 120km Lavaredo Ultra in the Italian Dolomites. Finn shares touching moments with friends, family and strangers. He does a great job at describing the amazing culture of support and competition at races.
The Rise of the Ultra Runners is like a university course on ultra-running. If you knew nothing about the sport, you could have a comfortable conversation with a seasoned ultra runner after reading this book. I read a quarter of this book on Kindle and listened to the rest on Audible. Finn narrates the book himself and does a fine job at it. I would highly recommend this book to both new and experienced ultra runners.