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In the rich tradition of influential tales like Wild and H Is for Hawk, Katie Arnold, a renowned writer for Outside magazine, weaves her own spellbinding story. It’s a tale of familial bonds, personal loss, rejuvenation, the thrill of adventure, and the transformative potential of running. Celebrated as one of the year’s best books by Real Simple, it’s a journey that begins with running to forget but ends with running to remember.
For over a decade, Arnold journeyed across the globe, reporting on extreme athletes who pushed the boundaries of human capability. She lived her stories, walking high lines a thousand feet above ground without a safety harness or running a hundred miles into the night. Life on the edge became her norm. After marrying, she and her husband pledged to instill the same adventurous spirit in their daughters against the breathtaking backdrop of New Mexico’s mountains and canyons.
However, when her father succumbed to cancer, Arnold was thrust into a whirlwind of grief and anxiety. She shared a special bond with her father, a revered National Geographic photographer. He had been her guiding star, introducing her to the wonders of the great outdoors, teaching her to find strength and solace in nature. He was the one who encouraged her to run her first race when she was only seven.
Overwhelmed by fear and haunted by her own mortality, Arnold found solace in the one thing that had always made her feel most alive: running. Over three turbulent years, she ran solo through the wilderness, covering increasing distances – 50 kilometers, 50 miles, and then 100 kilometers. She ran to heal her grief, to outrun her fears, to find strength in her vulnerability, to remember, and to forget. She ran to live.
Ultrarunning tests the boundaries of human endurance, and as Arnold traversed mesas and mountains, she learned to face uncertainty, vulnerability, and even death itself. Her runs peeled back the layers of her relationship with