Mental – The Hardest, Bloodiest, Hardest Challenges in the World – BionicOldGuy

This is an entertaining book by Helen Summer about some of the most difficult ultramarathons in the world. It is a combination of breathtaking descriptions of the courses and testimonials from the people who have taught them. Most events are ultra-running, but there are also some other adventures such as kayaking and triathlons. They run the gamut from the highest race in the world, “La Ultra” (“The High”) in the Himalayas in India, to some of the coldest, like the Yukon Arctic Ultra in Canada. My favorite sentence was the description of the runners from China who read a report about the Sahara Race in Jordan and were inspired to run it themselves. As the author pointed out, “reading can be a dangerous sport.” My wife would agree, which is why she usually tries to take books like this away from me. But I enjoy them because they make my own adventures seem reasonable in comparison. It’s also safe because I can no longer walk after two hip replacement surgeries. If I had read this about 20 years ago, when I still had cartilage in my hips, it might have been dangerous.

I really enjoyed this book and it describes an incredible variety of adventures.