Book Review: Marathon Man

Marathon Man: My Life, My Father’s Stroke and Running 35 Marathons in 35 Days

By Alan Corcoran
Tivoli Publishing House, 2021

Running 35 marathons in 35 days is a considerable accomplishment, but in the annals of marathon achievements (think Terry Fox’s 143 consecutive marathons in 1980, or Dean Karnazes’s 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days in 2006), does it really merit a book? So it was with some skepticism that we approached Marathon Man, Alan Corcoran’s new memoir about running the perimeter of his native Ireland in 2012, broken down into 35 daily marathons.

But thanks to Corcoran’s funny and entertaining storytelling, we were hooked in the first few pages. Growing up as a sprinter and soccer player of middling talent, he was blessed with loving parents and strong values, at some point becoming inspired by the achievements of runners as diverse as Fox, Karnazes and others. He conceived the idea of running a lap of Ireland while raising money for charity. But it wasn’t until his father’s debilitating stroke in 2011 (Corcoran was a 20-year-old university student at the time) that he was motivated to upend his young life and make the project a reality.

He spent a year training while keeping up his studies and planning logistics (no thanks to the Irish Heart Foundation, which promised much support and delivered almost none). His descriptions of the training, planning and execution of his dream, beset by challenges and injuries but also sprinkled with humour, are hilarious and painful by turns, and will be greatly enjoyed by anyone who has ever run a marathon.

Corcoran, as it happens, recently joined the running scene in Canmore, Alta.

This story originally appeared in the March & April 2022 issue of Canadian Running