Native Kenyans Elvin Kibet and Shadrack Kipchirchir grew up in poverty, relying on the support from their families and communities to determine how to provide a life for themselves. And eventually they joined the popular world of running – a notable and highly supported endeavor in Kenya. In the years that followed, they became incredibly successful. They earned scholarships to attend universities in America to represent them at competitions. They enlisted in the U.S. Army and continued to excel, eventually running professionally. And they did this all while starting their lives in a new country and dealing with culture shock. All in Stride by Johanna Garton follows the incredible stories of these athletes and demonstrates that through determination and perseverance, they embraced the sport to achieve their goals and so much more.
Book
The book’s entire title is All in Stride: A Journey in Running, Courage, and the Search for the America Dream. The title basically encompasses everything readers will find in this story. Both athletes rose to the demands of their running careers – from their childhoods in Kenya to the most recent Olympics. Yet behind the scenes, Elvin had her work cut out for her when it came to assimilating to a new culture and a new running environment. She had to learn the unique idioms of her new home and didn’t understand why her American teammates’ relationships with food was so drastically different from her own. This harsh reality was further demonstrated through Samantha Schultz, a pentathlon competitor who endured bad coaches and overtraining, eventually making the tough decision to seek out much-needed help to repair years of pushing her body to its limit.
Review
Johanna Garton shows her experience for sports journalism with All in Stride. She walks readers through the expansive world of distance running, each step of the way. Any concept or practice that non-runners might be unfamiliar with, Garton seamlessly integrated history and background knowledge for readers to understand the context of their journeys. As a two-time Chicago Marathon participant, I thought I understood what the training entailed. But Garton expanded my worldview to include the experiences of those whose very livelihoods depended on the sport. And she tackled the creative nonfiction part of the project by including dialogue to offer readers a more personal feel to the book. I could better understand the mindset of the athletes and the pressure to perform. As a sports-nonfiction book, this title certainly won’t be for everyone. But I can say with confidence that I was pleasantly surprised with how genuinely invested I became in the story’s outcome.
Johanna Garton joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about her fascinating research process to bring this story to life, and all about the world of running. Check out the interview in a future episode and order All in Stride, available now.
