I was hoping for more. Now, granted, I am a tough critic because of my publishing insider status, so I’m jaded and suspect of pretty much any book that comes with a prefab concept or theme. However, I thought my skepticism of a collection of essays about women bonding through running would be balanced out by my own passion for running, and the romantic view I admittedly have of the sport, as both participant and spectator. Alas, that was not quite the case.
I started reading Sole Sisters several months ago, when I was training for the Disney World Marathon, but didn’t pick it up again until this week, when I decided to approach it like a point-to-point run and Just Read It. Unfortunately, after about four essays, the stories of these real women began to blur together. Most of the women profiled were running through some traumatic event, and they leaned on the support of their all-women running groups to get through it. I’m not saying this to diminish their struggles, or triumphs. But I think these stories would have been more inspirational if I’d read one at a time, bit by bit, more like interval training.
Unsurprisingly, the essays that were most interesting to me were the ones that focused on elite and champion runners. I loved learning more about Joan Nesbit Mabe, Cheryl Treworgy, Grete Waitz and Catherine Ndereba and her sister. (I was delighted to discover is that Grete wore her hair in two pigtails as she ran, too!) The Quirky Award goes to Colleen Cannon, who runs flanked by her two horses.
Pigtails Flying 