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Running with the Buffaloes
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Product Description
Synopsis
Writer Chris Lear follows the University of Colorado cross-country team through an unforgettable NCAA season in this book. Allowed unparalleled access to team practices, private moments, and the mind of Mark Wetmore - one of the country's most renowned and controversial coaches - Lear provides a look inside the triumphs and heartaches of a perennial national contender and the men who will stop at nothing to achieve excellence. The Buffaloes' 1998 season held great promise, with Olympic hopeful Adam Goucher poised for his first-ever NCAA cross-country title, and the University of Colorado shooting for its first-ever national team title. But in the rigorous world of top-level collegiate sports, blind misfortune can sabotage the dreams of individuals and teams alike. In a season plagued by injury and the tragic loss of a team-mate, the Buffaloes were tested as never before. What these men managed to achieve in the face of such adversity is the stuff of legend and glory. With passion and suspense, Lear captures the lives of these young men and offers a glimpse of what drives a gifted runner like Adam Goucher and a great coach like Mark Wetmore.This book is at once a glowing celebration of a sport and an inspiration to anyone who has ever had the courage to beat the odds and follow a dream.
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First Sentence
The team stretches in silence, finishing their pre-race preparation before ambling off, one by one, to the starting line. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The team stretches in silence, finishing their pre-race preparation before ambling off, one by one, to the starting line. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read this book on a number of occaisons, generally in the lead up to a UK Cross Country season. The differences between the UK and US are obvious from the book, but this does not take away from a really interesting insight into American Collegiate sport. It is written in a nice way which I found hard to put down. It gives you a good feel for athletes on the team, so much so I felt quite emotional at one point in the book as the team faces the trials and tribulations of running, keeping healthy and student life.
The reason I re read the book is that I find it quite a good motivational tool, for my own running (admitably at a lower level), but it gets me out doing the sessions. So basically if you enjoy competitive running I think you will probably enjoy this book.
The reason I re read the book is that I find it quite a good motivational tool, for my own running (admitably at a lower level), but it gets me out doing the sessions. So basically if you enjoy competitive running I think you will probably enjoy this book.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a great insight into what it takes to be a great team in the American College system. It show's the up's and down's of the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country team and how they work together in trying to win the team title in the National Champioships. It highlights the intense day-to-day training by individuals such as Olympian Adam Goucher as he not only try's to help his team to become Natioanal Champions but as he try's to become the individual National Champion himself.
An inspiring read for all.
An inspiring read for all.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is proof that there's no accounting for taste. I was given it by a former professional soccer player who thought it excellent. I read it with an open mind but with an increasing lack of enthusiasm. On reflection I put this down to the team ethic. Chris Lear's book is all about the team ethic, not just the individuals, athletes or coaches. My own experience of four decades of athletics in the UK is that the team ethic counts for little.
This was perhaps best summed up some years ago when the great Cuban athlete Alberto Juantoreno dedicated his Olympic 800m gold medal to "the glorious Cuban revolution" while Belgian silver medalist Ivo Van Damme dedicated his "to myself". This is not to deny that the team ethic of American universities, which is driven by profit and competitive success, underplays the role of individuals such as Adam Goucher but there is a different motivational pattern that is evident in the careers of American and British athletes.
Adam Goucher, for example, was repeatedly concerned about his marketability and eventually became a full time athlete as part of the dubious Nike Oregan Project. It is also evident from the book that the level of support, including medical support, which is available to American College athletes is designed to give them the best opportunity to make it into the world of professional track and field and compete at Olympic level.
In the UK the position is the opposite. Jenny Meadows had to medal in the World Championships before being included on the nation's potential podium list. Prior to that she was relying on her husband's income and her own willingness to train full time without reward.
Anyone expecting pearls of coaching wisdom will be disappointed. Coach Mark Whetmore may be ideally suited to the American college scene, as his subsequent record showed, but he's no advert for motivational coaching. Just a cog in an ever demanding cycle for success. Whether such success means that athletes reach their full potential remains uncertain. Most of the team fell victim to injury or drifted off in other directions. According to the legend, pain is temporary, glory is forever. Reality is different.
This was perhaps best summed up some years ago when the great Cuban athlete Alberto Juantoreno dedicated his Olympic 800m gold medal to "the glorious Cuban revolution" while Belgian silver medalist Ivo Van Damme dedicated his "to myself". This is not to deny that the team ethic of American universities, which is driven by profit and competitive success, underplays the role of individuals such as Adam Goucher but there is a different motivational pattern that is evident in the careers of American and British athletes.
Adam Goucher, for example, was repeatedly concerned about his marketability and eventually became a full time athlete as part of the dubious Nike Oregan Project. It is also evident from the book that the level of support, including medical support, which is available to American College athletes is designed to give them the best opportunity to make it into the world of professional track and field and compete at Olympic level.
In the UK the position is the opposite. Jenny Meadows had to medal in the World Championships before being included on the nation's potential podium list. Prior to that she was relying on her husband's income and her own willingness to train full time without reward.
Anyone expecting pearls of coaching wisdom will be disappointed. Coach Mark Whetmore may be ideally suited to the American college scene, as his subsequent record showed, but he's no advert for motivational coaching. Just a cog in an ever demanding cycle for success. Whether such success means that athletes reach their full potential remains uncertain. Most of the team fell victim to injury or drifted off in other directions. According to the legend, pain is temporary, glory is forever. Reality is different.
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