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A Race Like No Other: 26.2 Miles Through the Streets of New York Audiobook
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(3.04) - 372 listener ratings
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“Gets closer to this marathon than an avenue railbird, and it leaves impressions not fleeting, but lasting.”—Sports Illustrated
The New York City Marathon is considered one of the nation’s—and the world's—premier sporting events. A reporter for the New York Times, Liz Robbins brings the color, the history, the electricity of this remarkable annual competition alive in A Race Like No Other. Centering her narrative around the fabled 2007 running, Robbins captures all the intensity of the grand event, following the runners—both professional and amateur—along 26.2 grueling miles through the streets of New York, from the starting line at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the finish line in Central Park, and offering fascinating portraits of marathon legends like the race's charismatic founder, the late Fred Lebow, and nine-time champion Grete Waitz. The Wall Street Journal raves: “Robbins nails the race, painting a broad, impressionistic portrait of what I consider New York’s greatest day.” No other book captures the excitement of the New York City Marathon like A Race Like No Other.
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"Quite compelling. Thought I'd be bored reading about just one marathon but this book was well written (one exception) and cleverly done. You get a bit of everything - history of the race, description of the course, bios of the elite runners as well as everyday folks with their compelling stories. Quite an enjoyable read. My one problem: some of the elements/facts are repeated in the book.... It gave me the impression that perhaps this book started as a series of newspaper or magazine articles that were then collated. Double-checked the forward, back cover ,etc but there's no mention. This irked me a bit....."
— Michel (4 out of 5 stars)
A Race Like No Other Listener Reviews
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" This was a fun book to read. I liked it a lot "
— Sue, 2/11/2014 -
" Pretty good book. Kind of like a print version of "Spirit of the Marathon." Didn't make me want to run one any more or less. I felt like it probably bragged about the NYC race a little bit too much at the expense of Chicago and Boston, but this book wasn't supposed to be about marathoning, it was specifically about the NYC Marathon. "
— Mriopell, 1/24/2014 -
" I love reading books about personal journeys and this one fits the bill. The author follows several runners in the 2007 New York City Marathon, including elites like Paula Radcliffe. The most moving profiles are about the recovering alcoholic mom, the young man who beat cancer, and the countless New Yorkers who volunteer every year on race day. Fantastic read and you don't have to be an runner to "get it". "
— Melissa, 1/22/2014 -
" a good backstory of not only the history of the NYC Marathon, but the story behind some of the elite runners from the 2007 race "
— Rory, 1/15/2014 -
" I didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped. The writing was kind of blah, not really engaging at all. The author just didn't have the knack for sucking the reader in, and she even made the most exciting parts of the book (Paula Radcliffe's spectacular win, for example) pretty drab. I'd much rather read Fred Lebow's or Mary Wittenberg's biography...I imagine you'd get a much more intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the New York Marathon if one of them were telling the story. "
— Colleen, 1/11/2014 -
" This was an interesting book to read. I especially enjoyed reading about the different runners' backgrounds. It took me a while to get through it though, because of the amount of historical and biographical information the writer provides. "
— Susan, 1/9/2014 -
" I loved this book. It's a good read for anyone interested in running and in marathons. "
— Dionis, 1/9/2014 -
" Great book for runners! It's a quick read detailing stories of the runners of the 2007 NYC Marathon and their back stories. It also describes each mile/section of the course and what to expect; I wish it had spent more time on this and a little less on the 2007-specific details. "
— Lisa, 12/10/2013 -
" Very inspirational while training for a marathon!! "
— Liz, 12/1/2013 -
" Interesting book about the 2007 race, good book, not excellent but fun to read especially if you live in NYC "
— Larah, 11/1/2013 -
" Sounds like it'd be fun to run the New York City Marathon. 40,000 runners, and streets lined with noisy onlookers.... "
— Nick, 9/20/2013 -
" I have a very large collection of books about running. I love books about running. This is the least compelling specimen of the genre that I've come across in a while, though maybe less boring to someone who doesn't follow running as closely. "
— Deanna, 9/17/2013 -
" Read this last year but absolutely loved reading it to psyche myself up for NYCM. It tells the story of the marathon from the perspective of five different athletes and gives lots of great behind-the-scenes info about the history of the marathon. Highly recommended for any runner. "
— Theodora, 9/8/2013 -
" I enjoyed this a lot, as I read it just a week before doing the 2010 Pittsburgh marathon. Not phenomenal, but it was great to read about the different sorts of people doing the New York City marathon, the locations on the route, and the history. "
— Eli, 8/6/2013 -
" read this book to prep for the 2011 NYC Marathon..great writing..i really felt like i was running this one..but when i finally ran in 2011..i'll never forget running through Williamsburg...and it was EXACTLY how Ms. Robbins wrote..AMAZING! "
— Bernadette, 6/23/2013 -
" Fabulous book, particularly interesting to runners. Made me want to run New York! "
— Eileen, 5/11/2013 -
" Interesting looks at mant aspects of a marathon...running it, putting it together, the highlights of past ones, stories of current runners. Inspiring! "
— Aimee, 4/15/2013 -
" I've never run the NYC Marathon, but now I have to. I couldn't believe what a great job the author did of researching the book, weaving in interesting side stories, making a real novel of it. If you're a marathoner, a really-wanna-be, or even just a runner, read this. "
— Julie, 10/12/2012 -
" This book provided an excellent overview of the NYC Marathon. It interweaves history, neighborhood profiles, and stories or elite and amateur runners as it takes the reader through the 26.2 miles of the race. "
— Elyssa, 7/9/2012 -
" Would have liked more information about the actual COURSE (!), but the excitement contained within the pages was still contagious. :) "
— allisun, 6/11/2012 -
" A good look at the 2007 NY Marathon and the different people that take on the race every year. "
— Rebecca, 4/1/2012 -
" Reading about marathons is inspirational until you remember how much running is involved. "
— Nikki, 3/21/2012
About Leslie Bellair
Leslie Bellair is a voice-over artist, stage and film actor, trained singer, and certified speech-language pathologist. Her voice can be heard on the iPhone application “Diss Crazy!,” the online game “Back to the Cubeture 2,” various audio books published for Audible, Inc., Carina Press, and Oxford Press, as well as the short animated Christmas movie An Elf’s Story. Her professional musical theater work in the Atlanta area has greatly contributed to the characterizations and versatility she brings to the voice-over mic.