Explores the role of running in human history from Pheidippides, who ran the first marathon in 490 B.C. (bringing news to Athens of the Greek victory on the plains of Marathon), to our own soldiers in Iraq today, interspersed with recollections of Cheever's own decades-long devotion to the sport, and an exploration of the impulse to run, described by Cheever as "the desire, the need, to escape into ecstasy."
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.