I've never witnessed the Boston Marathon of 1975, but novelist Bill Rodgers and Matthew Shepatin made me feel as if I was running the race the whole time, in April of 1975, when an unknown runner named Bill Rodgers decided to prove his worth to the not the country, but the world by breaking the world record in the marathon with a blazing 2:09:55. The story of how the whole world reacted to Bill’s outstanding performance is told by the Bill himself, and his mentor and teammate Amby Burfoot who explains to the audience why exactly that one race was so special considering Bill would win the Boston Marathon another 3 years in 1978, 1979, and 1980, and NYC marathon multiple times from 1976 to 1980.
Charlie, Bill’s brother is the main reason I fell in love with this book so much because he was always true to his word and would stick up for Bill when no one else would. That is not the only thing Charlie does as he makes massive sacrifices for his younger brother’s dream, including giving up on his running career. Bill’s explanation of who Charlie is and why he gave up his dream for Bill helps me see the things Bill and Charlie had to go through to make Bill’s dream true, and it touches me as I understand what it is like to be put down and pushed aside when it comes to running. There is so much more going on in this novel other than Bill’s dream of being in the top of the running world, there is also a story of his older brother giving up his time and life so his brother can have his, and Bill tells me how much Charlie’s sacrifices meant to him as he constantly thinks about how Charlie could have kept running, if he did not care for Bill’s goal of winning the Boston Marathon. The Bill Rodgers Running Center is a store owned by Bill and Charlie. Not many people would visit the store at the beginning of the novel as Bill and Charlie were not recognized in the running world yet. By the end, everyone visits the store, and it is not just because Bill and Charlie were famous. This is one reason you want to keep flipping the pages in Marathon Man as I did because I got to embark on the journey of how this running store is not only a store but a museum dedicated to many influential runners, not just Bill Rodgers. Bill and Amby would run together and push each other from high school to the top of marathon running. However, one of their biggest influences was their high school coach John J. Kelley. Kelley was not the politest person when you get to know him. He says things like " Bill is the only man who runs 150 miles a week and has high cholesterol"(Rodgers 79). making fun of Bill’s …show more content…
Here's how Bill describes Alberto Salazar, when he was in high school and won the state cross-country championship in 1975: "He has lots of talent is good, but maybe if he would put in more mileage and even more time after college he would be right there with us”(Rodgers 142). It shock’s me as to how much mileage and time these runner’s put in for one race which encourages me to keep doing the …show more content…
Taking care of the Bill Rodgers Running Center alone was a lot of work for Charlie as he never gotten any help once Bill started racing so often. Bill became a well-recognized runner, racing 30 road race marathons and winning 27 of them. Soon after Bill started to notice how much more work it took to manage the store and helped out Charlie more often. This, however, meant he would have to miss out on a few races to help out Charlie. In the end, Bill thought this was one small sacrifice Bill could make as Charlie already made a huge sacrifice to Bill. Not to mention that Bill could not afford his running gear without Charlie paying for it as had just gotten into the top of the running world and did not make much money, so he was living off of Charlie’s income to survive until he could start making more money later
Charlie, Bill’s brother is the main reason I fell in love with this book so much because he was always true to his word and would stick up for Bill when no one else would. That is not the only thing Charlie does as he makes massive sacrifices for his younger brother’s dream, including giving up on his running career. Bill’s explanation of who Charlie is and why he gave up his dream for Bill helps me see the things Bill and Charlie had to go through to make Bill’s dream true, and it touches me as I understand what it is like to be put down and pushed aside when it comes to running. There is so much more going on in this novel other than Bill’s dream of being in the top of the running world, there is also a story of his older brother giving up his time and life so his brother can have his, and Bill tells me how much Charlie’s sacrifices meant to him as he constantly thinks about how Charlie could have kept running, if he did not care for Bill’s goal of winning the Boston Marathon. The Bill Rodgers Running Center is a store owned by Bill and Charlie. Not many people would visit the store at the beginning of the novel as Bill and Charlie were not recognized in the running world yet. By the end, everyone visits the store, and it is not just because Bill and Charlie were famous. This is one reason you want to keep flipping the pages in Marathon Man as I did because I got to embark on the journey of how this running store is not only a store but a museum dedicated to many influential runners, not just Bill Rodgers. Bill and Amby would run together and push each other from high school to the top of marathon running. However, one of their biggest influences was their high school coach John J. Kelley. Kelley was not the politest person when you get to know him. He says things like " Bill is the only man who runs 150 miles a week and has high cholesterol"(Rodgers 79). making fun of Bill’s …show more content…
Here's how Bill describes Alberto Salazar, when he was in high school and won the state cross-country championship in 1975: "He has lots of talent is good, but maybe if he would put in more mileage and even more time after college he would be right there with us”(Rodgers 142). It shock’s me as to how much mileage and time these runner’s put in for one race which encourages me to keep doing the …show more content…
Taking care of the Bill Rodgers Running Center alone was a lot of work for Charlie as he never gotten any help once Bill started racing so often. Bill became a well-recognized runner, racing 30 road race marathons and winning 27 of them. Soon after Bill started to notice how much more work it took to manage the store and helped out Charlie more often. This, however, meant he would have to miss out on a few races to help out Charlie. In the end, Bill thought this was one small sacrifice Bill could make as Charlie already made a huge sacrifice to Bill. Not to mention that Bill could not afford his running gear without Charlie paying for it as had just gotten into the top of the running world and did not make much money, so he was living off of Charlie’s income to survive until he could start making more money later