• The Longest Race

  • A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance
  • By: Ed Ayres
  • Narrated by: Richard Waterhouse
  • Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (311 ratings)

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The Longest Race  By  cover art

The Longest Race

By: Ed Ayres
Narrated by: Richard Waterhouse
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Publisher's summary

First and foremost a book about running, The Longest Race takes listeners alongside ultramarathoner Ed Ayres as he prepares for, runs, and finishes the JFK 50-mile race at a then record-breaking time for his age division - 60 and older. But for Ayres, this race was about more than just running, and the book also encompasses his musings and epiphanies along the way about possibilities for human achievement and the creation of a sustainable civilization.

Looking back over a lifetime of more than 50 years of long-distance running, Ayres realizes that his running has taught him important lessons about endurance, patience, and foresight. These qualities, also hallmarks of being human, likely helped humans to survive and thrive in the evolutionary race - and, Ayres posits, they are qualities absolutely necessary to building a sustainable society.

Grounding each step of his argument are vivid details from this particular race and other moments across his long running career. These experiences take us far beyond the sport, into new perspectives on our origins as future - and what it means to be a part of the human race. In the end, Ayres suggests, if we can recapture the running prowess and overall physical fitness of our "wild" ancient distance-hunting ancestors, we will also be equipped to keep our bodies, our society, and the entire world running long into the future.

©2012 Ed Ayres (P)2012 AudioGO

What listeners say about The Longest Race

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Should have been called The Longest Book

What would have made The Longest Race better?

This book was exhausting to get through for a number of reasons. First off, I didn't know it was going to be an intertwined recounting of racing and a bunch of eco-metaphors and analogies. I'd consider myself a moderate environmentalist and open to new ideas, but the way he wove the stories of a 50 mile race, human physiology, and the health of the planet together was painful at times. I just wanted him to finish one coherent thought before departing off into explaining how the build up of lactic acid was like the build up of CO2 in our atmosphere. If he had only made a couple of departures onto a topic he feels passionately about I would have enjoyed it, but it was two to three departures in every chapter and by the end I was just begging for it to end.

The author and his audience would have been better served with a much shorter book on his running alone or his environmentalism alone. The way the two are brought together simply does not work for the reader. I wouldn't recommend this book to either the ultra-distance runner or the environmentalist.

What didn’t you like about Richard Waterhouse’s performance?

Not the right reader for this book. The author is writing about a race he did when he was 60 years old, but the author sounds like he's mid-30's at best. While some stories will carry this just fine, in this story the discontinuity of the young voice talking with the words of age and experience was uncomfortable and noticeable.

Any additional comments?

There are certainly valuable things I took away from this book, primarily regarding running physiology, pacing, and fueling on long runs, but with the challenges presented, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Misleading

If you are looking for a chance to read about one man's liberal philosophy while he runs an ultramarathon you have chosen the correct book. I had to quit this one.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

painful and preachy

What disappointed you about The Longest Race?

I've been reading a lot of running memoirs lately. Lot's of great ones out there. This is not one of them. Sorry.

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Someone has unrealistic expectations

I found this audiobook as a suggestion and thought it may be a good listen. The writer is clearly intelligent and there is a story here to be shared.
What lost me was the exhaustive amount of comparisons and, at times, disconnected relations of his view of the workings of the world. I thought there would be some emphasis’ on running, which there is at times, but it’s not until the 9th chapter or so does the author confess he really doesn’t remember the JFK50 in any detail. I mean if it’s the entire back drop of the book and you take us through a dizzying myriad of stories about humanity why not lead with that.
I was astonished to hear that he really only remembers about 2-5 minutes of the overall run but added all this color and detail about other runners of the day.
It lost all credibility and I skipped over the middle sections of chapters.
So either I had or he had unrealistic expectations about what this book was really about.

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2 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I didn't buy a book on climate change. cool stuff

cool story way to go above 60 !!!! didn't need so much harp on climate change.
ghad so winny about oil and coal. this was suppose to be a running book ghadddddd. we would be riding horses if this author had his was yuck. chapter 6 is unbearable omg.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Jo
  • 01-30-24

Good story but too much climate change

Good story overall. I did not like the many references to climate change and environmentalism throughout a story about ultramarathoner.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t bring myself to finish

It was fine until he started talking about heal striking and how that is the way to run relaxed and fast. How and talks about how science backs it for long distance running, while talking about how Harvard did a study and found it causes more injuries. It’s true you can find science to back anything. All I can say is heal strike barefoot and see how it goes. Once he started preaching about heal striking, I was done. Take this review for what it’s worth. Maybe the stories and history on running is good. He lost all credibility with me.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Anthropology?

This book isn’t what I was expecting. He talks a little about his experience being an ultra-runner, but also meanders into how people must have done it in pre-historic times. If you are into that kind of stuff, cool. While it is an amazing accomplishment, I didn’t like the narrators tone while delivering the story.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Different than expected.

I would say that this book is better titled:
"Thoughts on the history of humanity as told through a runners thoughts during the JFK 50 mile"
It's a book that was hard to get through in part because of the focus on the theory of evolution and his thoughts about how he thinks "prehistoric" people lived. I neither agree nor disagree with all of his points, but be aware- that's mostly what this book is about.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Soooo much talk about everything but running

Didn’t need a history lesson, just wanted to hear about the race and you running.

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