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About the Book
Marathon, the novel by Runner’s World’s Hal Higdon, describes the 72 hours leading up to a major marathon, similar in scope to the best-selling books by Arthur Hailey, Airport and Hotel. The book begins as an individual identified only as Celebrity X, an individual “more famous than Oprah,” boards a private jet in Europe heading to the Lake City Marathon. As the countdown clock on the race Web site ticks away from 72:00:00 to 00:00:00, race director Peter McDonald appears at the Expo on Thursday for an interview with TV reporter Christine Ferrara, new in town. Their romance over the next four days will drive the plot. But, in the Hailey tradition, Marathon also provides an in-depth look at how a race featuring 50,000 runners and watched by 1 million spectators works.
Organizing such a marathon is a $100 million business in terms of how much revenue it provides for the fictional Lake City: money spent in hotels, in restaurants and in travel as well as entry fees. Under McDonald’s guidance, the Lake City Marathon prospers because of the efforts of 8,000 volunteers, including 800 policemen, who provide for the safety of runners. Their help will be vital when Celebrity X makes his surprise appearance on the starting line.
The marathon’s existence is threatened, however, when a European conglomerate acquires Lake City Bank, the race’s principal sponsor. McDonald must cope with this threat to his livelihood while worrying that a freak heat wave may threaten the health of runners. Plus the world record holder from Sweden, who he recruited at considerable expense, is pregnant and may not run. Peter’s romance with Christine, the TV reporter, also suffers its speed bumps: the shadow cast by his late wife; a supermodel clinging to his arm at one of the race parties; the elite woman runner, who at times seems more interested in bedding Peter than winning the race.
Add to that a broad cast of characters: the defending champion from Kenya, who promises to donate his prize money to charity; two bickering TV commentators; a sports reporter who loves golf and hates being forced to write about runners. Most fascinating, a so-called “Mystery Girl,” a star runner in high school, a flop in college because of chronic injuries. Graduating from podiatry school and with her husband’s support, she decides to devote a full year to see if she can succeed in running at the top level again.
As the countdown clock reaches 00:00:00, and 50,000 runners stream through the streets of Lake City, readers will not be able to turn pages fast enough to keep pace with the men’s and women’s leaders and those running in the wake of Celebrity X. Three dramatic climaxes will leave readers gasping for breath, feeling they too have run 26 miles 385 yards. Never before has an author succeeded so well in capturing what it feels like to run a marathon.
Amby Burfoot of Runner’s World writes: “No matter how many marathons you've run, you haven't yet run one as dramatic and surprise-filled as this one, the annual Lake City Marathon. The things that happen in Marathon are bigger and more incredible than any that have happened in any real-life marathons. And yet.... And yet, they're believable, because Higdon knows marathons, knows what has happened in various races, and knows how to take the action to the next level.
Hal Higdon is a contributing editor for Runner’s World and the author of 35 books, including the best-selling Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. Although he has written fiction for children, including The Horse That Played Center Field, made into an animated film by ABC-TV, this is his first novel.