A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New York

By Liz Robbins
Harper Paperbacks, $14.99, 336 pages

A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New York is sportswriter Liz Robbins’ attempt to bring home the experience of running in a major marathon.   Her approach, which is not a new one, is to follow a handful of individuals–both elite and non-elite runners–as they move through the race.   This documentary-style approach was previously used in a film that brought the trials and tribulations of the Chicago Marathon to life.  

Robbins often moves away from covering the race on a mile-by-mile basis in order to describe the lives of the persons she’s focused on. Unfortunately, these sidebars give the narrative a herky-jerky, stop and start pace that creates frustration for the reader (“What mile are we on now?”).   It would have been more effective to focus on one average runner, using this individual to describe the sights and sounds–and aches and pains–of the race from mile one to the end.  This story could have been told in 26.2 read-friendly chapters.  

If you’re a non-runner you won’t find enough in Race to hold your interest.   If you’re a committed long-distance runner, Race is far too basic.   There’s just no “here” here.

Reviewed by Joseph Arellano