‘Run to Overcome: The Inspiring Story of an American Champion's Long-Distance Quest to Achieve a Big Dream’ ‘by Meb Keflezighi with Dick Patrick – Book Review

One of the hardest tests of endurance - both physical and mental - is the marathon, which is 26.2 miles in length. Fred and I have been participating in them since May, 2008. We are the definition of the amateur. On the other side of the spectrum is Meb Keflezighi, who has been a professional runner since 1999 and a champion at UCLA before that. He has a new book, ‘Run to Overcome,’ in which he shares his inspiring life story.

Here is the synopsis of this engaging and inspirational autobiography:

“I am often at my best when things look the worst.” Meb Keflezighi (Kef-Lez-Ghee) is all about hope and second chances – starting with his own survival. The child of a small African country ravaged by a brutal war, Meb arrived in America with nothing but the clothes on his back, speaking no English and never having raced a mile. So how did he end up an A student, one of the most celebrated and respected athletes of his generation, and winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon?

His story sounds like the living embodiment of the American dream…but Meb’s path to victory hasn’t been smooth. Not long after he stood on the Olympic platform as a U.S. silver medalist, it all came crashing down. And he was about to find out whether his faith in God,  the values his parents had taught him, and his belief that he was born to run were enough to see him though.

Run to Overcome tells the inspirational story of a man who discovered the real meaning of victory, and shares the secrets to overcoming the odds in your own life.

Faced with adversity and heartbreak at every stage of his career as a record-breaking long-distance runner, Meb Keflezighi learned from a young age to dream big and never give up – no matter how hard or far away the finish line seemed. In Run to Overcome, Meb reveals the source of his inspirational grit and determination and urges readers from every walk of life to rely on their God-given talents to see them through life’s obstacles.

Here are the biographies of the two authors:

Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi and his family came to the United States after fleeing their native country of Eritrea to escape a violent war with Ethiopia. His unexpected athletic and academic successes earned him a full scholarship to UCLA, where he won four NCAA titles in one year and earned his BA in communications studies with a specialization in business. Meb is an Olympic silver medalist (Athens 2004) and a three-time national champion in cross country running (2001, 2002, and 2009). He came back from an injury to win the 2009 New York City Marathon, setting a personal best time of 2:09:15.  Meb became a U.S. citizen in 1998. He lives in Mammoth Lakes, California, with his wife, Yordanos, and their three children, Sarah, Fiyori, and Yohana.

Dick Patrick has worked as a sports reporter and editor at newspapers for 34 years (including more than 24 at USA Today). He has covered Olympics Games, Final Fours, track and field world championships, world cross country championships, and more than 60 major marathons. He has won several Associated Press awards as well as awards from the National Distance Running Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. He recently was named the first winner of the George Hirsch Media Award, presented by the New York Road Runners for contributions to distance running. He lives in Vienna, Virginia, with his wife, Jody, and two children, Eamonn and Shea. This is his first book.

Here is Meb talking about how he overcomes obstacles:

The Foreword, written by a champion in her own right, Joan Benoit Samuelson, does a great job in summarizing the life of this extraordinary man:

“Run To Win” – Meb Keflezighi’s tried and true mantra – doesn’t begin to describe a life and a career that has helped escalate advancements in distance running among American men in recent years. In fact, winning through running is a small part of what winning really means to Meb and his family, who emigrated to the United States of America from Eritrea via an escape route through Italy in 1987.

Run to Overcome is an inspiring account and autobiography of a highly decorated American distance runner and marathoner who has become a warm and giving friend to many of his fellow athletes. Meb is also a global role model for aspiring runners. (p. xi)

Meb opens his book by explaining that he asked for help from God:

I run a lot and pray a lot, but I generally don’t ask God for a win. I was breaking precedent at the 2009 New York City Marathon.

Knowing I’ve worked my hardest in training, I am usually content to see whoever’s best on race day win. But on November 1, 2009, I wanted – I prayed – to be the first across the finish line in Manhattan’s Central Park.

Waiting for the 26.2-mile race to start, I stood on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the front row of nearly 42,000 runners, braced against the chilly temperatures with my beanie, gloves, and arm warmers. I couldn’t help but think of how far I had come – and how much I had overcome – since my childhood days in a war-torn African village. (p. 1)

Meb’s faith developed early in life and was influenced by his family:

From my parents, I learned early about the power and majesty of God. Our reverence for God extends to our church. We remember God’s command to Moses – “Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5, NIV) – and seek to honor the place where we come to worship him. That explains the many signs of respect that are part of our faith – such as kissing the church door and making the sign of the cross (crossing ourselves) when we pass by the church. These simple acts may appear strange to others, but to us they are reminders that God is holy and we are not to take Him or our faith for granted.

Our parents encouraged us to pray not only when we go to sleep and wake up, but also when we start and finish any task, whether it is eating a meal or starting a trip out of town. My parents’ strong belief in a mighty God enabled them to maintain their faith against all odds – and that’s another value they taught their children. We don’t give up easily. (p. 12)

Meb had a very impoverished childhood:

At times food was so scarce that I literally ate dirt. I’d dig into the soil until it became dark and moist, putting it in my mouth so I could soak up some of the nutrients my body craved. Even though it sounds strange, it was a means of survival. I was skinny but had a distended stomach. That gave me my nickname, “the kid with the bloated stomach.” (p. 22)

Eventually, the family was fortunate enough to immigrate to the United States; they are the embodiment of the American Dream:

…On October 21, 1987, we were on a plane to San Diego. There was no way then to predict that Fitsum would graduate from the University of California at San Diego with an engineering degree; that Aklilu would go to UC-Santa Barbara, study economics and political science, and get an MBA; that Bahghi, Merhawi, and I would graduate from UCLA, where Bahghi would also go to medical school and Merhawi to law school; that Bemnet would graduate from UC-Santa Cruz; that Adhanet would graduate from Stanford. There would be three more children born in the United States: sister Fnann, now chair of the Black Student Union at UC-San Diego; sister Ziada, who attends UC-Berkeley; and brother Admekom, a junior in high school. (p. 27)

Meb started running after his family came here:

…Sports was a good way for me to assimilate myself into a new culture. Participating in sports gave me an identity other than the kid with a hard name to pronounce. I was the fastest kid at school. People were giving me high fives. Sometimes the compliments came with more teasing: “You were running from the lions and tigers. That’s what made you fast.” After the first year, we had learned English well enough to communicate more. Prior to that, we were so quiet that other students thought we must be stupid. (p. 38)

Running appealed to him for many reasons:

The individual nature of running appealed to me. You start at the same time at the same place with your fellow runners. You all finish at the same place. How you do is largely up to you. If you win, you congratulate your team and yourself. If you lose, you evaluate how to improve. You can’t make excuses like “He didn’t pass me the ball” or “The coach didn’t put me in.” It’s on you. That’s the beauty of the sport. (p. 42)

Meb had wanted to be married; his dream lady appeared in San Jose, California at a soccer tournament:

On the opening day, I was watching a game when a guy accompanied by several women sat down near me. I couldn’t keep my eyes off one of the women. Not only was she good-looking and well dressed, but I liked her manner. She carried herself well and seemed friendly, greeting anyone who approached her group. Bells were ringing inside of me. Of course, I did not say one word to her. (p. 137)

He ultimately found out who she was; they were married a little over a year later.

Yordanos was equally impressed with him, as she shared in the book:

The more I talked to Meb, the more I felt like I was talking to someone who was an exact reflection of my values, who I am, and what I stand for. It was friendship at first, but the more we talked, it was hard to resist falling in love. I was making excuses for not having a relationship because I didn’t want to deal with the long-distance aspect. But you can’t fight that, especially when you hear a voice that is echoing.

I prayed really hard about it. I said, “Lord, I don’t want to break what you have for me. I remember I prayed at the beginning of the year for something special.” I decided I wasn’t going to mess it up because my mind was thinking a long-distance relationship wasn’t practical. I felt we had a special chemistry, and I was going to commit to making it work. (p. 140) 

Meb goes into great detail about his training techniques. Here is a glimpse into the life of a marathon professional:

A typical marathon buildup week starts on Monday – an easy day – with a single 10- to 12-mile run. It used to always be 12 for me, but now that I’m getting older, I realize that one fewer mile may be better than one more mile. The run is followed by a 15-minute ice bath – I often go to a nearby creek for these – to help my legs recover. I take the afternoon off from running because I need to recover from the previous day’s long run: 36-plus miles within 24 hours would be too much to take. Later in the day, we head to Snowcreek Athletic Club for a gym session that includes core and flexibility exercises, weightlifting, and plyometrics – exercises to increase explosiveness. (p. 151)


Here is Meb on ‘Late Show With David Letterman’ after his 2009 New York City Marathon win with the ‘Top Ten Thoughts That Go Through Your Mind When Running the New York City Marathon.’ I think this really shows his heart and his humor:

Here is Meb describing that experience in his book:

I finally appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman. Dave asked me a couple of questions as I stood on the set to his right, dressed in a gray Nike sweatsuit with my gold medal hanging from my neck. I cracked Dave up when he asked me what I was doing in the last mile. “Celebrating,” I said. I didn’t realize he was asking for my split time in the final mile…

In all, I got about five minutes of air time that ended with a handshake and bouquet of roses. Another dream accomplished. (pp. 213-214)

Meb describes his vision for the next few years of his career:

So what’s next? I would love to keep running competitively for another three years and make the teams for the 2012 London Olympics and 2013 world track & field championships. I know I can run faster in the marathon, half marathon, and 10K. If those things don’t happen, though, so be it. I’ll still be content with my productive and consistent career. (p. 221)

He sums up the most important message that he wants to convey in his life:

As our daughters grow, Yordanos and I will ask only that they put forth their best effort in whatever they do.

That’s really the message I most want to convey, whether I’m running, coaching, or speaking. I like how the apostle Paul, who used the ancient Isthmian Games as a metaphor for our spiritual life, put it in 1 Corinthians 9:

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! (verse 24)

As every marathon runner knows, you must prepare yourself for the journey. Without proper training, you will never finish. And even with proper training, you never know what will happen on race day. The weather, the course conditions, your own body – all may seem to conspire against you.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress,” said the great American abolitionist Frederick Douglass. What an apt description of the marathon. And what a perfect description of life.

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize (verse 25)

As important as training and fitness are, they are not the top priority. Sports may bring you great joy; they may help support your family; and they can certainly bring glory to the Lord. Yet, as Paul points out, it’s even more critical that you and I submit to the daily discipline of obeying God, knowing that He promises to reward us and supply all our needs.  (p. 224)

He concludes his book with this valuable piece of wisdom:

Winning in life doesn’t happen when you overcome just one thing – do or die. It’s persevering, knowing that difficulties are bumps in the road, not the end of the world. It’s continuing to do the right things, knowing your time will come. After all, you have to conduct yourself like a champion before you can ever win a championship.

Whatever you do, then, give it your best. Persevere in overcoming obstacles. When you do, you’ll be running to win. (p. 224)

Every chapter ends with one Runner’s Tip and one Overcomer’s Tip. The Overcomer’s Tips are applicable to all aspects of life, not just running. Here are some that I loved:

Once you’ve committed yourself to something, pace yourself to the finish line. (p. 5)

Before making a decision, step outside the situation to get the best perspective. (p. 81)

Instead of rushing to make things happen, rely on God’s perfect timing. (p. 148)

Start out with reasonable expectations. What you want to accomplish and where you are in the process may be far apart right now. Your assignment is to close the gap. (p. 169)

When situations blindside you, count on God to see you through. You can’t imagine the intricate details He will put into place. (p. 191)

Fred and I had the privilege of meeting Meb at the Pittsburgh Marathon Expo on April 30, 2010, less than two weeks after his fifth place finish at the Boston Marathon. We only spent a few moments with him, but it was obvious from that brief encounter that he is personable and very humble. When I found out Tyndale House was publishing his book and sponsoring a blog tour, I knew I wanted to jump on that blog tour bus (thanks, Christy, for including me!). I am a Meb fan, and will always follow his achievements on the marathon circuit, including his effort to repeat as winner of the New York City Marathon on November 7, 2010 (you can learn more and follow his progress here). He is a remarkable man, and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to both meet him and read this amazing book about an inspirational man and his high-achieving – and God-honoring – family who have overcome so much. God has blessed them indeed, and it is such a testimony to hard work and God’s provision and blessings.

Tyndale House is running a special contest on the Run to Overcome website. They are giving away one signed book per day from Nov. 1, 2010 – Mar. 31, 2011. There will be monthly grand prize winners that will receive a signed copy of the book, other free Tyndale titles, as well as Sony and PowerBar products.  

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Tyndale House and provided by them for review purposes. You can learn more about this book at the Run to Overcome website.

‘Evolving in Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions’ by Rachel Held Evans – Book Review and Giveaway

Many Christians struggle with issues of doubt with regard to their faith. In ‘Evolving in Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions,’ Rachel Held Evans shares her struggles in growing up in a Christian home and  making her faith her own as she comes of age.

Here is the synopsis of this thoughtful book:

          Knowing All the Answers isn’t As Important As Asking the Questions

Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. Growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, Evans asks questions she never thought she would ask. She learns that in order for her faith to survive in a postmodern context, it must adapt to change and evolve.

Using as an illustration her own unique perspective to the ongoing dialogue about postmodernism and the church that has so captivated the Christian community in recent years.

In a changing cultural environment where new ideas threaten the safety and security of the faith, Evolving in Monkey Town is a fearlessly honest story of survival.

Here is the biography of this author:

Rachel Held Evans is an award-winning writer whose articles have appeared in local and national publications. She is a graduate of Bryant College. She lives in Dayton, Tennessee, with her husband, Dan.

Here is the book trailer featuring Rachel telling her story:

In the Preface, Rachel shares this:

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not exactly an impartial observer. My culture, my childhood, my gender, my prejudices, my hopes, my imagination, my virtues, and my vices – these things color my view of the world and infuse it with meaning. I’ve got baggage just like everyone else, and it’s as big a part of my faith journey as the high peaks, the low valleys, and the long, lovely stretches of road that I wish could go on forever.

I’m a lot of things, but fair and balanced I am not.

So now that you know what you’re getting into, read on.

Rachel explains her mindset before she started experiencing her great bouts of doubt:

I used to be a fundamentalist. Not the Teletubby-hating, apocalypse-ready, Jerry Falwell type of fundamentalist, but the kind who thinks that God is pretty much figured out already, that he’s done telling us anything new.  I was a fundamentalist in the sense that I thought salvation means having the right opinions about God and that fighting the good fight of faith requires defending those opinions at all costs. I was a fundamentalist because my security and self-worth and sense of purpose in life was all wrapped up in getting God right – in believing the right things about him, saying the right things about him, and convincing others to embrace the right things about him too. Good Christians, I believed, don’t succumb to the shifting sands of culture. Good Christians, I used to thing, don’t change their minds. (p. 17)

I can certainly relate to that mindset.

Rachel explains what happened in her thinking about life and faith:

It started small – a nagging question here, a new idea there, an ever-changing, freshly accessible world everywhere – but before I knew it, just as I was preparing to graduate from a Christian college ready to take the world for Jesus, twenty years of unquestioned assumptions about my faith were suddenly thrown into doubt.

No longer satisfied with the easy answers, I started asking harder questions. I questioned what I thought were fundamentals – the eternal damnation of all non-Christians, the scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible, the ability to know absolute truth, and the politicization of evangelicalism. I questioned God: his fairness, regarding salvation; his goodness, for allowing poverty and injustice in the world; and his intelligence, for entrusting Christians to fix things. I wrestled with passages of Scripture that seemed to condone genocide and the oppression of women and struggled to make sense of the pride and hypocrisy within the church. I wondered if the God of my childhood was really the kind of God I wanted to worship, and at times I wondered if he even existed at all. (p. 22)

I loved this description of herself as a child, growing up in a home where her father was a theologian:

I guess when you grow up listening to Ravi Zacharias on your way to kindergarten in the morning, you kind of turn into a Jesus freak. I was the nutcase kid who removed wise men figurines from manger scenes at Christmas to more accurately depict the historical time line of Advent. I gently corrected my Sunday school teacher when she referred to Jonah getting swallowed by the whale (everyone knows that the word is literally translated “big fish”) or referenced the forbidden apple in the garden of Eden (which was more likely some sort of Middle Eastern fruit, like a fig). My mother reminded me daily that my primary responsibility in life was to go to a good Christian college and marry a good Christian boy. I guess I just assumed that I would stay a Christian forever. It was like being an American – not something you just go and change (pp. 31-32)

Rachel explains how she thinks her hometown – Dayton, Tennessee –  and the evangelical world was affected by the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial:

The evangelical community has a curious reputation for resisting cultural movements before suddenly deciding to embrace them, and believers in Dayton are no different. These days most Christians, even conservative Christians, acknowledge that the Monkey Town approach of stubborn isolationism and anti-intellectualism is an outdated and ineffective strategy for expanding the kingdom. (p. 64)

Rachel explains that the apologetics movement has created an unintended consequence, and how 

it affected her personally:

You might say that the apologetics movement had created a monster. I’d gotten so good at critiquing all the fallacies of opposing worldviews, at searching for truth through objective analysis, that it was only a matter of time before I turned the same skeptical eye upon my own faith. It occurred to me that in worldview class, we laughed at how transcendentalists so serenely embraced paradox and contradiction, but then went on to theology class and accepted without question that Jesus existed as both fully God and fully man. We criticized radical Islam as a natural outworking of the violent tone of the Qur’an without acknowledging the fact that the God of Israel ordered his people to kill every living thing in Canaan, from the elderly to the newborn. We sneered at the notion of climate change yet believed that God once made the earth stand still. We accused scientists of having an agenda, of ignoring science that contradicted the evolution paradigm, but engaged in some mental gymnastics of our own, trying to explain how it’s possible to see the light from distant stars. We mocked New Age ambiguity but could not explain the nature of the Trinity. We claimed that ours was a rational, logical faith, when it centered on the God of the universe wrapping himself in flesh to be born in a manger in Bethlehem (pp. 79-80)

It is so common for Christians to not question anything, but when we do, especially when it comes to matters of faith, more often than not we see that there is an answer in Scripture for our questions.

Rachel decided that a good way to find the answers to her questions was to study Jesus:

If Jesus was really the most complete and comprehensive revelation of the divine, if he was indeed God in sandals, then that means he cared about what God cared about, hated what God hated, and loved what God loved. The incarnation gave God a face. It gave him literal tears, literal laughter, literal hands, literal feet, a literal heart, and a literal mind. What the Spirit of God said and did while living among us in the person of Jesus must say a lot about what matters most to him. So in spite of my doubts, or perhaps because of them, I decided to see if Jesus had the answer. (p. 102)

Rachel explains what she learned studying Jesus in the book of Matthew:

….it was the summer I encountered a different Jesus, a Jesus who requires more from me than intellectual assent and emotional allegiance; a Jesus who associated with sinners and infuriated the religious; a Jesus who broke the rules and refused to cast the first stone; a Jesus who gravitated toward sick people and crazy people, homeless people and hopeless people; a Jesus who preferred story to exposition and metaphor to syllogism; a Jesus who answered questions with more questions;….a Jesus who had no list of beliefs to check off, no doctrinal statement to sign, no surefire way to tell who was “in” and who was “out”; a Jesus who loved after being betrayed, healed after being hurt, and forgave while being nailed to a tree; a Jesus who asked his disciples to do the same. (pp. 106-107)

Invariably, Jesus will never disappoint when you study Him, and not be distracted by His flawed followers, etc…

When she studied the character of God, she discovered she had not known Him as well as she thought she did:

We’ve got our own ways of dealing with our enemies, and God has his. Our way involves retaliation and punishment; his way involves forgiveness. Our way involves equal justice; his way involves disproportionate grace. Our way is to make someone pay with blood; his way is to bleed. Even when Jesus hung on the cross, when God has been insulted to the highest degree imaginable, left naked, humiliated, beaten, and bruised, he said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Now that is a higher way. That is the kind of goodness and grace my childish view of equality can never fully grasp. God’s way are higher than our ways not because he is less compassionate than we are but because he is more compassionate than we can even imagine. When we forsake our way of doing things in favor of his, we experience the kind of joy and peace that inspires mountains to shout and trees to applaud.

What a comfort to know that this loving and merciful God will not be disappointed, that his word falls over the earth like rain, covers it like snow, and nourishes it for an abundant harvest. What a comfort to know that God is a poet. (p. 137)

Rachel’s life was profoundly changed when she traveled to Hyderabad, Indian, to visit her sister, who worked there with various ministries and nonprofit organizations. She met a young lady named Laxmi, who was grateful for being HIV-positive, because it allowed her to be introduced to Jesus. There was an unmistakable joy in India that Rachel had never experienced before:

In India, I was introduced to the kingdom of heaven – not as it exists in some future state but as it exists in the here and now, where the hungry are fed with both physical and spiritual bread, where the sick are saved from both their diseases and their sins, where an illiterate widow taught me more about faith than any theologian ever could, and where children from the slums sing with God. In India, I learned that the gospel is still special. Jesus still matters and can make a difference in people’s lives.

I guess that’s close enough to spiritual awakening. (p. 144)

I could really relate to this paragraph:

When I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that the people I most identify with in all of Scripture are the Pharisees. Like the Pharisees, I know a lot about the Bible and am familiar with all the acceptable –isms and –ologies of orthodoxy. Like the Pharisees, I am skeptical of spiritual movements that don’t conform to my expectations about how God works in the world. Like the Pharisees, I like to try to cram the Great I AM into my favorite political positions, theological systems, and pet projects. Like the Pharisees, I am judgmental, crave attention, and fear losing my status as a good believer. (p. 155)

Rachel closes out 'Evolving in Monkey Town' with this assertion:

If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that serious doubt – the kind that leads to despair – begins not when we start to asking God questions but when, out of fear, we stop. In our darkest hour of confusion and in our most glorious moments of clarity, we remain but curious and dependent little children, tugging frantically at God’s outstretched hands and pleading with every question and every prayer and every tantrum we can muster, “We want a conversation with you!” (pp. 226-227)

I have to admit that I was a little worried about Rachel for a while as I was reading this book! I was glad she was able to get over her major doubts, and that she did not camp out there too long. I have been there myself for extended periods of time over the years and nothing good ever comes of it (that’s just my opinion!). I could certainly understand her mindset, being that we are both skeptical and questioning of the deeply held truths of others. For a while, I used to think it was dangerous to question and rail at God; then I looked at how David, a ‘man after God’s own heart,’ did that quite consistently in the Books of Psalms. If it were verboten, God would have told us in His Word!

This book is amazing! This book is especially perfect for young people who are doubting the faith with which they were raised. Rachel is a tremendously gifted writer; she has a real way with words! She is obviously a very intelligent, very thoughtful young woman, and it is exciting that she stayed with God! I appreciate her honesty about what she has gone through, and am glad she landed where she did! I look forward to seeing what she has to offer in the future!

You can order this book here.

This book was published by Zondervan Publishers and provided by the Blog Tour Spot for review and giveaway purposes. I am proud to be touring this book with these others bloggers.

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How would you like to win a copy of this book?! I have a copy that I would love to send along to one of you! 

There are several ways to gain entry:

1) Leave a comment here on the blog, telling me what you think about this book and its message; how can you relate to it?  Please make sure to leave your email address in this format – sample[at]gmail[dot]com.

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This giveaway is for U.S. residents only.  The deadline for entry is Monday, July 12, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST.  A winner will be chosen via the Random Number Generator on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 and will be contacted via email.  The best to all of you!