The Running Ground

A record-setting marathoner and journalist tells the inspiring story of how he began to break speed records in his mid-40s and how the profound discipline and awareness he built along the way helped him to let go of his past and light up his life.

Nicholas Thompson has always loved the feeling of running fast. He ran his first mile at 5 years old. By high school, he'd become one of the quickest teenaged runners in New England and his obsession with running would only grow as he aged.

By 40, Thompson had many accomplishments: the Editor in Chief of a major magazine, he was a devoted husband and father and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father's life. Had the intensity and ambition he'd inherited from his father made a mid-life crack-up inevitable for him as well? Or would he be able to channel those qualities into accomplishment-both in his running and his professional life?

Then a chance offer from Nike gave him the opportunity to train for the Chicago Marathon with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn't necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. Four years after his father died, Nicholas Thompson ran a marathon in 2:29, making him one of the fastest runners in his age group in the world. Two years later, he set an age-group American record in the 50k. Thompson shares how he transformed his body to perform at its highest capacity and how the profound discipline and awareness he built along the way lit up every aspect of his life. Throughout, he weaves stories of remarkable runners whose battles against the odds have inspired him.

Running For Your Life is a story about why we age, where we come from, and what the most basic and most beautiful of sports can teach us about ourselves.