In Search of Al Howie

(Paperback)

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Description

The story of Al Howie is a remarkable and at times unbelievable adventure into the heart of the longest races in the world with one of modern historys most eccentric ultra-marathon runners.

If you ran 2225 kilometres from Winnipeg to Ottawa, youd be crazy. If the day after you arrived in Ottawa you showed up to a 24-hour race and started knocking back beers, you would be stupid. If you then ran the 195 kilometre, 24-hour race, won it, and ran all the way back to Winnipeg, youd be a true freak of nature. If later, at 46 years old, you ran 7200 kilometres across Canada in the world-record time of 72 days, 10 hours, and then followed it up two weeks later by breaking another world record (which happened to be your own) in the longest certified race on Earth, youd be a mega-distance alien. In all of this, if you were forever broke, using fake names and aliases, teetering on the edge of sanity, and doing it all in three-ounce racing flats, youd be Al Howie.

Based on interviews with Howie himself during his final two years (he died in 2016), Jared Beasleys book takes the reader into the incomprehensible distances of a legendary runner and the amazing and complex world of an astounding figure in modern sports history.

Reviews

It's a crazy ride, and one well worth reading. - Outer Edge Magazine

This book is one of those can't put down reads. - Outer Edge Magazine

Al Howie is a Canadian ultrarunner who ran really, really far. Like Prince George to Boston far. Like Winnipeg to Ottawa and back to Winnipeg far. He ran across Canada in record time and won more than 50 ultramarathons and multiday races in his lifetime. - Run the North

Al Howie's story is one that richly deserved telling, and Jared Beasley does a commendable job in bringing it back to public attention. - Ormsby Review

He was maniacally obsessed to the detriment of all those who loved him, but there is no doubt, that this myopic disposition is what made him one of the greatest mega distance runners of all time. - Treeline Journal

[In Search of Al Howie] is recommended, not just for runners, but for anyone who may be fascinated by the stories of the lives of people who accomplish unbelievable feats. Al Howie's life story as chronicled by Beasley is a legend of incomprehensible focus and determination.-- "Athletics Illustrated"

Author Bio

Jared Beasley has spent years as an actor and director, having written numerous feature screenplays and independent shorts. Originally from the American South, he has a degree in literature and theatre from the University of Alabama and is the co-author of The Black Sheep: The Fittest / Unfittest Bar Owner In New York. Jared lives in New York, NY.