Review of Chris Pavey’s Running Against Time

Graham Clements — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 06:34:00 +0000

Why do runners always look like they are suffering so much pain? According to
Chris Pavey’s book, Running Against Time, it is probably because they are injured, full
of self-doubt, or in desperate need of a toilet break. Why do they put
themselves through so much pain and self-doubt? Are they slightly mad and more
than slightly masochistic? After reading Running
Against Time you will understand why a truly committed runner runs.

Running
against Time is no ordinary book about running. It is one man’s journey
from being a she’ll be right, unhealthy McDonald’s addict, to becoming a driven,
fund-raising marathon runner. Apart from its fitness and health benefits, Chris
comes to love running for its adventure and because it allows him to be alone
with his thoughts and nature.

The book begins in Japan where Chris
had a job teaching English to the Japanese. Each day ended with junk food and too
much sake. That was until he wound up at a hospital desperate to discover why
his gut was behaving so strangely. He then vowed to get fit and took up
running. Ten years, and many injuries later, he was running marathons.

Many marathons are run with
particular charities benefitting from the participant’s entry and their fund-raising
activities. Chris enthusiastically threw himself into raising funds for those
charities. And when tragedy struck, he decided to turn the death of a loved one
into a positive by running up Mount Fuji and raising money in her memory.

The book is written in a
conversational style, as if Chris is holding court at a BBQ and enthusiastically
telling stories about his latest running adventure, in between sips of a light
beer. His enthusiasm for running and life will inspire many readers to finally
undertake their own personal challenges.

Each chapter of the book ends with tips:
on running, on overcoming injuries, on stretching, on fund-raising, even tips
on how to design a website to promote fund-raising activities.

Running Against
Time has many riveting descriptions of Chris’ races that let a reader get
into the head of a runner. They will find a runner who is full of fears of coming
last or not finishing because of injuries. But they will also see the almost
meditative quality of running and moments of ecstasy as the finish line is
crossed.
You don’t have to be a runner to
enjoy this book. Anyone who wants to know what drives the driven will be
inspired by Chris’ determination to overcome injury and other personal
setbacks, and live a well-run life. Running
Against Time is an very enjoyable and inspirational book. I am proud to have helped edit the book.

Marathon Stories.

Graham Clements — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:11:00 +0000

Marathon Stories.

Three Encounters with the Physical by Graeme Simsion
came second in the recent Age Short Story Awards. The story is about a
disastrous attempt at a first marathon and had a bit more resonance with me
because last year I helped edit Chris Pavey’s Running Against Time, a
book about Chris’ conversion from slob to marathon runner. He went on to raise a
fair bit of money for charity and run up Mount Fuji. It is a great book, very
inspirational, and told in a knock-about way.

Three Encounters with
the Physical
is a true story. The events in the story happened to Graeme Simsion during the
2010 Canberra marathon. As such, the story really engaged my interest as I
wondered how damaged he would become.

The
story also has an unusual narrative style that used all three points of view: first,
third and second, all in the space of a few thousand words.

The
story starts in second person (if you haven’t read it yet, go and read
it now, it will be fifteen minutes well spent). This second person
narrative reads like someone watching himself, detached from himself, watching
himself make near fatal errors. It covers the lead up to the marathon and the
marathon itself.

Simsion
then changes to third person, as if the marathon runner is no longer himself,
but some other ill and injured person. The story finishes in first person. He
has merged back with his body and is living with the marathon’s consequences.

Now
if he had read Chris Pavey’s book, Running
Against Time, perhaps he would not have overloaded on carbs before the
marathon. But Chris’ book was not out then.

One
thought that struck me is whether the judges realised who the writer was. I
assume, like in most short story competitions, that the judges didn’t know who
wrote any of the stories while they were judging them. If this was the case, then
any judge who keeps up with the Australian literary scene would probably have
known about Graeme Simsion. After all, his 2012 novel The Rose Project earned
about $1.8 million in publishing deals, and they could have heard about his muscle
meltdown in a marathon. Did the judges know they were reading his story? If
they did, what effect did it have on their judgement of the story?

I
think it is a compelling well-written story with excellent use of point of view.

I
have nearly finished reading the recently published version of Chris’ novel. Much
to my surprise, I have only had to cringe at the editing a few times. I plan to
post a totally unbiased review of it next week.

Running Against Time – Graham Clements

Review of Chris Pavey’s Running Against Time

Marathon Stories.