THE INCOMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING

In this wise, poignant and funny book about running and life, Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's award-winning show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner's World, shares lessons, stories, advice, and warnings gleaned from running the equivalent of once around the earth.

About to turn 40, Sagal - Harvard grad, short bald guy with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio - started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running 14 marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings. He writes about the emotional experience of running, about body image and his own lifelong struggles as a former fat kid, about the pleasures of pushing yourself to achieve a goal.

In this book, Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he's traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear in St. Louis in February, runs around his neighborhood and to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners. He also reflects on the emotional experience of running, on body image and his own lifelong struggles as a former fat kid. He writes about the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is a funny, wise, and powerful meditation about running and life that will appeal to even non-runners.


Peter Sagal is the host of the Peabody Award-winning NPR news quiz Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, the most popular show on public radio, heard by five million listeners each week. He is also a playwright, a screenwriter, the host of Constitution USA with Peter Sagal on PBS, a one-time extra in a Michael Jackson music video, a contributor to publications from Opera News to The Magazine of the AARP and a featured columnist in Runner's World. He's run fourteen marathons across the United States. Sagal lives near Chicago with his wife Mara.