The Longest Race

“Ed Ayres is a legend who shares his many provocative insights and lessons in an informative yet enjoyable way. A true champion, Ed uses his gift to help us all be the best that we can be.”
—Dean Karnazes, athlete and New York Times bestselling author

“I have been reading Ed Ayres’s insightful thoughts on running and life since I started serious training in the 1970s. By reading The Longest Race I’m sure you will also benefit greatly from Ed’s wisdom.”
—Joe Friel, elite endurance athlete coach and author of The Triathlete’s Training Bible

“One of the nation's leading environmental thinkers, and a nationally-ranked runner over half a century, Ed Ayres embodies the classic ideal: mens sana in corpore sano. Using as template his 2001 record-breaking running of America’s largest and oldest ultramarathon—the JFK 50 Mile—Ayres shows how the discipline of endurance running can lead us as individuals and a nation to environmental sustainability. Ayres confirms what a few of us have long suspected: In our greatest individual challenges, trail running proves itself just like life, only more so.”
—Tony Rossmann, environmental advocate, UC Berkeley law professor, and past president of the Western States Endurance Run

“An ultramarathon is made up of a million moments, and you’re different at the end than you were at the start—it’s the perfect metaphor, as Ed Ayres makes clear, for the race we’ve got to run now, with focus and grit, if we’re going to deal with the deepest trouble we’ve ever stumbled into as a planet.”
—Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar, Middlebury College

“Ayres’s tale of the grueling JFK 50 Ultramarathon, where he placed first in his age group, is far more than a gripping account of an aging runner’s competition against self and others. It’s nothing less than a philosophical treatise on how to survive and thrive in a world of dwindling resources, alarming climate change, and haunting violence. It’s about a human race, but also the human race.”
—Larry Shapiro, PhD, author of Zen and the Art of Running

“Brilliant in its simplicity, rich in content, The Longest Race insightfully weaves history, nature, wisdom, love, and the spirituality of sports to help us learn lessons about ourselves and life. This inspirational book will change your relationship with running and other activities of passion. There is much, much love in his words.”
—Dr. Jerry Lynch, distance runner and author of The Way of the Champion

“Ed Ayres’s storytelling is first rate. His mix of historical events and personal history make for a compelling and poignant read about health, nutrition, and the environment. The Longest Race highlights how the fate of the planet is intimately connected to our own personal health. Ayres shows us how we can all make the world a better place through the way we live, the way we eat, and the way we interact with one another.”
—Danielle Nierenberg, Co-Director, State of the World

“The Longest Race is ostensibly about Ed Ayres running the JFK 50 ultramarathon, a historically rich course that includes a number of Civil War battlefields. As he carries us with him along this course, he deftly uses the past to inform the present. His overarching question: What does it take for an individual as well as a civilization to go the distance without collapsing?”
—Lester R. Brown, President of Earth Policy Institute

“Ed Ayres frames The Longest Race within an eight-hour period at a single event—the John F. Kennedy 50 Mile race. Then between its start and finish lines he deftly weaves a lifetime’s experiences and observations: a memoir of a pioneering ultramarathoner and professional writer, a primer of advice on going long distances, an anthropological study of humans as runners, and a set of environmental/ecological essays. Each topic alone would have made a good book. Together they yield a great one, richly detailed and finely written.”
—Joe Henderson, former editor, Runner’s World

“Ed Ayres has masterfully intertwined his world view, gleaned from over 50 years as a runner and an astute observer of societal trends, with a stirring account of his quest to break the 60+ record at the JFK 50 Mile. The result is a compelling story about one man and mankind.”
—Phil Stewart, Editor and Publisher, “Road Race Management Newsletter” and Event Director, Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Mile

“This is not just a book about running—about putting one foot in front of another—it is rich in history, it is thoughtful, intelligent, often very personal, and provides an exploration of our sport. By using comparisons from everyday life events, Ayers makes our sport become more real…more human. A brilliant and fun read for runners and non-runners alike.”
—Nancy Hobbs, Executive Director of the American Trail Running Association

“An epic story of how important our fitness as individuals may be to the long-run sustainability of our national and global security.”
—Jacqueline Hansen, two-time world-record holder for the women’s marathon, Boston Marathon winner, and first woman to run a sub-2:40 marathon

“The Longest Race takes you inside the head of one of the pioneers of the modern running movement. Ed Ayres has devoted his life to running, was a national-class runner, and is the former publisher and editor of Running Times, one of the first and premier magazines written exclusively about running. Reading this book should help you understand the passion for running that he shares with devoted runners everywhere.”
—Gabe Mirkin, MD, former Medical Editor, Runner’s World, and Host of the The Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show

“This is a story of critical connections—between ancient sunlight and the prospects for the dimming future; between the wind in a long-distance runner’s face and the astonishing ability of his Paleolithic hunter-ancestors to have survived on a planet of far faster, more powerful predators and prey; between the secrets of the deep past, which we unknowingly carry in our DNA and anatomy, and the guidance we need to form a more vital and viable civilization in the coming years. It’s about the dawning realization that we need to rediscover how to think not just on our feet but with our feet.”
—Thom Hartmann, Host of the Thom Hartmann Radio and TV shows

“The Longest Race tells an extraordinary story of the athletic spirit fueled by, yet transcending, competition. Deep in our souls, it’s a thing we can find only through the hard work of caring and striving, not only for ourselves but for our fellow competitors, for life itself, and indeed for the fate of the Earth. We return to this spirit or we perish.”
—David Meggyesy, author of Out of Their League, Former Western Director, NFL Players Association

“An extraordinary journey of the human body, mind, and soul running together—not as hierarchical powers in a troubled civilization, but as a holistic and exhilarating display of ancient capabilities that lie at the heart of the human experience. This is a breathtaking, feet-on-the-ground story.”
—Marianne Williamson, author of A Woman’s Worth and Healing the Soul of America