Book review: Girl Runner

At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, women – for the first time – were allowed to compete in a handful of track events, including the 800m. In real life, that event’s gold medallist was Germany’s Karoline “Lina” Radke-Batschauer, but in Carrie Snyder’s excellent new novel, Girl Runner, she re-imagines the winner is Canadian Aganetha Smart.

Readers meet Aganetha as a 104-year-old woman, living in a nursing home and forgotten by history. When a pair of siblings – a filmmaker and an elite marathoner hoping to represent Canada at the next Olympics – show up at the nursing home under the pretense of wanting to make a film about Canada’s one-time golden girl, Aganetha is old and weak.

From there, Snyder deftly weaves together the present day with flashbacks of various stages of Aganetha’s life. The result is a smart and vivid portrait of a woman who is stubborn but fragile. It is revealed that she is still haunted by her success at the Olympics and by losing the only man she ever loved. We also discover the troubles that seem to follow her family no matter where they go. While what happens in the present day unfolds chronologically, the flashbacks do not, allowing the reader to get inside Aggie’s aging mind, creating a more intimate and immersive reading experience.

When Snyder writes about running, she beautifully captures how Aganetha feels about it. Aganetha is free when she runs. She revels in the joyous pain that comes with giving everything you’ve got. Even as she ages, fading into history, Aganetha runs, and Girl Runner cycles back to this again and again. These feelings will resonate with anyone who’s ever laced up their shoes for an early morning 5k.

If you’re looking for a novel solely about running, be warned: this isn’t it. Running is an important – but small – element in Snyder’s story. This is a satisfying story about a complicated and compelling life – a life, so it happens, shaped by running. If you can relate, then Girl Runner makes for a gold medal read.