Once a Runner: A Novel

The undisputed classic of running novels and one of the most beloved sports books ever published, Once a Runner tells the story of an athletes dreams amid the turmoil of the 60s and the Vietnam war. Inspired by the authors experience as a collegiate champion, the novel follows Quenton Cassidy, a competitive runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his schools athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life against the greatest miler in history. A rare insiders account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners, Once a Runner is an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one individuals quest to become a champion.