Karnazes is an ultramarathoner: a member of a small, elite, hard-core group of extreme athletes who race 100 miles and longer. They can run forty-eight hours and more without sleep. They can scale mountains, in brutally hot or cold weather, pushing their bodies, minds, and spirits well past what seems humanly possible. Karnazes has run 226.2 miles nonstop; he has completed the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon across Death Valley in 130-degree weather;...

"The inspiring and irresistible true story of the women who broke barriers and finish-line ribbons in pursuit of Olympic Gold When Betty Robinson assumed the starting position at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, she was participating in what was onlyher fourth-ever organized track meet. She crossed the finish line as a gold medalist and the fastest woman in the world. This improbable athletic phenom was an ordinary high school student, discovered...

The author relates how, after a doctor told him he would be lucky to walk again after a debilitating accident, he battled through fear, despair, loneliness, and intense physical and psychological pain to regain the athletic life he once had as an avid runner and cyclist.