Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon -

Ed Caesar

Simon & Schuster

2016

256 páginas

8h 32m

ISBN-10: 1451685858

SHORTLY BEFORE nine on a bright fall morning in Berlin, Geoffrey Kiprono Mutai prepared to run a marathon faster than any human being—even he—had run before. A wild, audacious proposition, to propel one’s body to such a ragged extreme, and he felt the walls of his quest closing in on him. Years of pain for this one opportunity. Competing voices crowding his head. The loudest saying, If only we could start running!

Mutai is five feet seven inches tall, and 125 pounds. He has a wide, expressive face, with a high forehead, elfin ears, and long, gleaming teeth. Most often, you find him amiable, amused, desirous of news and gossip, a flashy smile close by. But now, at this solemn moment, he looked as vulnerable as a foundling.

There were around 41,000 runners behind him. Penned together, they bobbed and lilted like a gentle sea against a harbor wall. Alongside Mutai at the head of the crowd, meanwhile, were two dozen professional athletes whose lives—like his—would be marked irrevocably by the minutes to come. As Mutai ran his final warm-up shuttles, the goosebumps on his chest were visible behind his blood-orange running vest: nerves, or the cold, or both.

Mutai attempted to relieve the tension by telling himself that he didn’t need to win the race, or make history, to be happy. Anywhere on the podium would be okay, this reasonable voice said. The marathon is tough. Anything can happen.

Resenhas (1)

5 (Perfeito)

Maravilhoso. Ed Caesar relata como poucos a saga pela maratona sub 2h que, agora, foi conquistada pelo grande Kipchoge. Não achonque haveria hora melhor para terminar um livro tão incrível. Narrado como que no pace dos quenianos, o livro é arrebatador. Indicadíssimo para corredores ou apenas admiradores do esporte. Vale demais a leitura!