The End of the Trail: A 100 Mile Running Odyssey
I have known the author since the 80's....He and I share the same finish time, 23 hours, 34 minutes, but done in different years.  So how did he do?  After reading it I can say the book does indeed provide a good description for what it's like and what it takes to run the trail.      He wrote this book twenty years after the event, working from personal notes he made in 1986.... this was the high point of J.D.'s athletic career and I think he felt compelled to write it all to preserve the wholeness of it all.... Another reason for the detail was his intent to give prospective Western States runners a guide for this adventure, to let them know what to expect as the trail wears them down and presents new challenges with each hill, canyon, and stream crossing.      Following each chapter are a few paragraphs of his recent perspectives about that particular piece of trail, or about running in general, or about living and aging and what it all means to him....      Many uninspired personal accounts I have read of ultrarunning events can be paraphrased in two simple sentences.  It was a really long run.  It hurt a lot.      But if J.D. were to distill his book down to its essence it would come out not as two choppy sentences but as a descriptive and meaninful haiku to live by. --Mark Haymond:  "The Ringer: Tales of Wonder and Power"  August, 2006