Iron War

Dave Scott, Mark Allen, and the Greatest Race Ever Run

By: Matt Fitzgerald

Narrated by: Seth Michael Donsky

Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

The 1989 Ironman World Championship was the greatest race ever in endurance sports. In a spectacular duel that became known as the Iron War, the world's two strongest athletes raced side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 139 miles.

Driven by one of the fiercest rivalries in triathlon, Dave Scott and Mark Allen raced shoulder to shoulder through Ironman’s 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race, and 26.2-mile marathon. After 8 punishing hours, both men would demolish the previous record - and cross the finish line a mere 58 seconds apart.

In his new book, Iron War, sports journalist Matt Fitzgerald writes a riveting epic about how Allen and Scott drove themselves and each other through the most awe-inspiring race in sports history. Iron War goes beyond the pulse-pounding race story to offer a fascinating exploration of the lives of the world’s two toughest men and their unquenchable desire to succeed.

Weaving an examination of mental resolve into a gripping tale of athletic adventure, Iron War is a soaring narrative of two champions and the paths that led to their stunning final showdown.

©2011 Matt Fitzgerald (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Amazing Book

What a great recall of this amazing race! What I spine chilling book.. Makes me want to strive to reach Kona

Great inspirational true story- my kids loved it!

We have been listening and relistening in the car - my 5 kids are riveted by Matt’s tale of these two amazing men. So much to unpack in this 13 hours. Matt goes a little off the biographical path to talk science of physiology and will power which both my husband and I found interesting but questioned a little the results of the study on cyclists exerting themselves to fatigue that Matt promoted. His writing is superlative though and the narration is fantastic! What a great audiobook. Highly recommended for any sports enthusiast- not just for triathletes! Really makes me want to meet Dave Scott and Mark Allen or sign up for one of their training programs. I think as different as both men are, they are for sure unique and gifted each in his own way.

This did not disappoint and is worth the listen.

I listen to many account of extreme athleticism. some are narrated by the author and others are not. I struggled at first with what I felt was an overly dramatic reading. as the pages turned I quickly can to appreciate the reading and looked forward to picking it up again. There were several points along the journey in which the dramatic reading really made the story for me. take a listen and I'm certain you'll be glad you did.

Great book but preview narrator

Loved the book, highly recommend.

Typically always listen to a preview but didn’t in this case. Big mistake. The narrators voice almost had me deleting this many times.

Excellent book

Everyone is complaining about the narrator but I found that if you speed it up to 1.25 speed it's not that bad.

Great book.

Greatest race ever run

Who was your favorite character and why?

Both, Dave Scott and Mark Allen

Have you listened to any of Seth Michael Donsky’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I quite liked the narration by Seth M. Donsky

Any additional comments?

Great book, my triathlon bible. If you do a triathlon or thinking about doing, this is a must have book. Even though not, this is a great biography of two of the greatest athletes of 20th century.

Good story and well written

Good story and well written but the performance is hard to take at times. I want to be an Ironman.

Good story, terrible performance

Good in depth explanation with excellent epilogue. A little melodramatic at times, but worth the read. Unfortunately it is not worth the listen. The narration is really aggravating, and listening to hours of it on end has to at least be near to iron man levels of endurance.

Awesome story, annoying narrator

The story was great. Everything I expected. The narrator was a bit irritating to me personally. It's almost like he was spitting the word at you. Not a reason not to get the book though.

Good Story - HORRIBLE naration

I just couldn't get past the over the top narration lacking any flow or rhythm.