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In this quirky, illustrated deep dive, Outside magazine columnist Brendan Leonard explores the humans' weird proclivity for endurance, and how we express it-including, but not limited to distance running, factory work, benign masochism, improv comedy, and rooting for the Buffalo Bills.
Easily the most compelling, most inspiring, most raw book on running I have ever read. Brendan brings a rare quality into his work-humility. And those of us who run are constantly humbled by this sport. While running gives us big dreams, it also shows us the naked likelihood of never achieving them. Brendan reminds us that having lofty goals is fun and necessary, but that the real victory is simply lacing up the shoes and getting out the door.
-Sanjay Rawal, director, 3100 Run and Become
Winning despite the fact that he's (never) winning, Brendan Leonard is refreshingly irreverent, emotionally honest, searingly wise, and, always, highly motivated by pizza. This book may not turn you into a nature-loving ultra runner, but it will certainly help you understand how doing very hard things can make us better humans.
-Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative
In Ultra-Something, Brendan Leonard offers us a gift, a deeply personal kaleidoscopic view into how humans create meaning and connection in the most arbitrary ways, not only through hero's journey revelation but in the prosaic edge zones of our own manufactured discomfort. Traversing pop culture, scientific studies, and memoir, Leonard leads us through an entertaining-often surprising-Rat Park of stories about how humans engineer self-worth out of thin air.
-Nicholas Triolo, Editor, Trail Runner/Outside Run
Brendan Leonard understands the value in the tedious and the everyday. All of those little, un-sexy, sometimes annoying tasks and obligations that, in aggregate, compose an attentive life. And if we're not paying attention-to how we treat others, to how we treat ourselves-what's even the point?
-Anton Krupicka, 2-time winner, Leadville Trail 100
Writing about running can feel a lot like trying to describe a dream. What feels urgent and personal to one can feel (at best) cliche or abstract to others. Ultra-Something manages to distill the weird and wiggly parts of ultrarunning into a genuinely fun and relatable read.
-Zoë Rom, Editor-in-Chief, Trail Runner/Outside Run
In Ultra-Something, Brendan Leonard offers a poignant, insightful, at times hilarious examination of his unlikely journey in ultra-endurance sports. Whether you're a Hardrock 100 finisher or just signed up for your first 50K, you'll glean valuable wisdom and inspiration from Leonard's deep dive into the 'why' of ultrarunning.
-Ed Roberson, Creator and Host, Mountain & Prairie
When Brendan Leonard decided to get serious about running in 2015, it only lasted a few weeks-the getting serious part, not the running part. Since running his first-ever ultramarathon race that year, he's logged thousands of miles on roads and on trails, completed dozens of marathons and ultramarathons, and spent a lot of time thinking about why we do what we do when we put on running shoes-whether we're qualifying for the Boston Marathon or finishing an ultra-distance trail race a minute before the final cutoff. And it's not always that serious.
The 25 essays, race reports, illustrated stories, and goofy lists in this book pull from a wide range of experiences: The high-decibel chaos of running the New York City Marathon with 53,000 other people, shuffling through the night on lonely trails in the mountains of Colorado and North Carolina, digging for the mental fortitude to finish a 100-mile race, and the admission that we all have procrastinated a 5-mile easy run on a weekday for longer than it takes to do the actual running-often while wearing our running clothes. Have Fun Out There Or Not will, according to a good friend who's probably biased to say nice things about Brendan's work anyway, leave you laughing and shaking your head saying, Me too, or Been there, done that, or OK, that's kind of gross. Also, possibly, Why would you think that was a good idea? or What did you expect, after you ate all that pizza? or The person who wrote this should really find another hobby, like, I don't know, golf or something.
There are no real training tips in this book, except maybe the one on page 69 about how to go No. 2 in the woods and keep your hands 100 percent clean while doing it.
Brendan Leonard's 15-Second Recipes is a cookbook for busy people-no, like really, REALLY busy. Maybe you read the title and thought Oh wow, 15-Minute Recipes, sounds good. Well, you thought wrong. These are 15-SECOND recipes, that you can prepare in 15 seconds or less-from easy dishes anyone can prepare, like Several Bites Out of a Block of Cheese, to more complex classics like Tortilla Chips from Bottom of Bag Poured Into a Jar of Salsa and Eaten With a Spoon. Maybe you have some questions: How many recipes are there? (25) Are they any good? (I mean, any good is pretty subjective) Will this book make you, or the person you're gifting it to, laugh? (Maybe, but no guarantees) Is the illustrator an actual adult? (Legally, yes)
Nobody gets tapped with a magic wand and suddenly has the ability to make great music, photos, films, writing, or any other kind of creative expression-they just try. And you probably should too.
OK, you say. But what about ________ ?
That's exactly what's in Make It: answers to all the reasons we give ourselves to not sit down and start working on our Real Art Thing. If you could use a polite but firm kick in the ass to get going, or just some reassurance that you're not the only would-be creative with a slight to moderate crisis of confidence, this book is for you: 50 illustrated micro-essays to get you through roadblocks at the beginning, middle, or end of your project, and onto the next one.
Sixty Meters to Anywhere Trailer - Live from Brendan Leonard on Vimeo.
When Brendan Leonard finished substance abuse treatment at age 23, he was lost. He knew what not to do--not drink alcohol and not get arrested again. But no one had told him what it was that he could do. He quickly realized that he had to reinvent himself, to find something other than alcohol and its social constructions to build his life around. A few years later, Brendan was sober and had completed a graduate degree in journalism, but he still felt he was treading water, searching for direction. Then his brother gave him a climbing rope. And along that sixty-meter lifeline, Brendan gradually found redemption in the crags of the American West. He became a climber, someone who learned to push past fear, to tough it out during long, grueling days in the mountains; someone who supported his partners, keeping them safe in dangerous situations and volatile environments; someone with confidence, purpose, and space to breathe. Sixty Meters to Anywhere is the painfully honest story of a life changed by climbing, and the sometimes nervous, sometimes nerve-wracking, and often awkward first years of recovery. In the mountains, Leonard ultimately finds a second chance.
