Even if you know nothing about Cross Country, or running in general, this story has plenty of captivating themes and reasons to read.

Beyond Fast gives a firsthand account of taking a high school team from average to national champs in just a few years. Sean's ambition bleeds through every page and you can't help but admire his drive. Stay with me, but this reminds of reading Elon Musk's biography. Extraordinary results from someone who goes above and beyond to meet their goals. Sean lives a vagabond life that uniquely prepares him to take a few talented kids and build a juggernaut.

Many stories are inspirational but this is different. Only a few will ever wholly pour themselves into a goal like Sean did with his team. Outsiders will call him crazy and the haters will criticize. I admire what he accomplished but have to be honest that the commitment and dedication it took is too much for the common person. Nevertheless, there are leadership lessons throughout a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Beyond Fast is the remarkable story of a high school cross country team that went from also-rans to state and national champions.
The author Sean Brosnan with the help of Chris Lear and Andrew Greif takes the reader back to when he was a young runner through his endless journey to visit all manner running coaches and programs in the United States. Brosnan lived a spartan existence often sleeping in an air mattress, holding down various part and full time sales jobs while gathering as much coaching wisdom and teaching that he could find.

Using what he learned Brosnan began coaching at Newbury Park High School near Thousand Oaks California. The school did not have a solid running program prior to Brosnan's arrival. Brosnan made a bold promise to his team stating that if the kids would follow his instructions and fully commit to serous improvement as runners, they would win a California State Championship.

With extensive detail the author takes us through the process of helping the runners go 'Beyond Fast' with what some may regard as unconventional methods. Brosnan preached quality over quantity, wherein in lieu of running what could be considered very high milage for teenage runners, the focus was on speed versus mileage. The success earned by the Newbury Park kids is ample proof that Brosnan knew what he was doing!

Skeptics could and did argue that Brosnan was blessed to have five very gifted runners from two families that provided the talent needed to set the pace and lead the team. The five runners and their teammates showed fantastic improvement over the course of their high school careers.
Perhaps the key to Brosnan's success was his unwavering belief that the kids should not set limits on what they could achieve.

Unlike, Chris Lear's classic book Running With the Buffalos, non-runners may not be drawn to this story. However coaches of all ages can and should gleam some valuable teaching points to relay to their runners.