MARATHON MAN

A memoir tells the story of how a man ran 35 marathons in 35 days in Ireland.

Having lost his motivation as a sprinter, 20-year-old Corcoran was already contemplating finding his way back into running when his father had a stroke in 2011. The conditions were a perfect storm for an impetuous idea. The author would be of little use back home for his father’s recovery. Still in college, Corcoran was of an age that allowed him to take big, foolish chances and healthy enough to give his body a beating. Inspired partly by comedian Eddie Izzard’s Eddie Iz Runningdocumentary, chronicling 43 marathons in 51 days, the author hit on the idea of running a complete lap of Ireland to raise money for the Irish Heart Foundation, the brain injury unit at the National Rehabilitation Hospital, and Football Village of Hope, a charity his father helped establish. The story is told in a conversational style, starting out as a traditional memoir of Corcoran’s early dedication to sprinting and how his family gave him the encouragement and discipline to keep at it, turning into more of a tour diary once the run begins. He spares no detail, from his extensive preparation to his troubles holding charitable organizations to their promises of logistical support. On the road, readers see the author’s every ache and pain from the full 35-day course, from coping with blisters and burns to his friends pestering him as he was running by repeatedly screeching the song “Use Me” from a car as they followed along. The narrative can get technical at times, talking of physios and specific running techniques and training methods. But Corcoran treads lightly, keeping his sense of humor throughout. And some of the prose is beautiful: “Some days it was ballerina slippers, graceful efficiency; some days it was boxing gloves, biting down on the gumshield, swinging wild fists.”

A charming, detailed running account that should appeal to fans of endurance stories.