Book Review: Ultra Marathon Mom From the Sahara to the Arctic by Holly Zimmermann
I never really thought about doing an ultra marathon until I read the book, Ultra Marathon Mom From the Sahara to the Arctic by Holly Zimmermann. The author inspires but also talks about the hard truths of ultra marathons, like severe weather, blisters, potential dehydration and more.
The book starts off with Holly Zimmermann, the author, getting accepted to the Marathon des Sables, a 257K race through the Sahara Dessert. It would take a week to accomplish the goal.
Zimmermann goes to the dessert and describes her experience in full detail. I loved being there in the Sahara dessert with her and experiencing this race.
When I read about the gear that the author had to carry on this race, I was shocked. Just thinking about the weight while running in the hot Sahara sun was incredible to me.
Most of the book focused on this race, which was fascinating. But, Zimmermann also talked about her getting into the Boston Marathon, the year of the terrorist attack and how she reacted. She also talked about the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland and her experience running in the extreme cold.
Interestingly, when she took a trip to Italy with her daughter, her aunt set her up with Ferragamo’s son and she ran with him.
The book is about the author’s running experiences, it’s not about her dealing with the kids or figuring out how to juggle it all. Her husband and her children are very supportive of her running, which was awesome.
I loved the way Zimmermann finished the book by talking about kindness and giving back. Her sentiments were so in line with my thinking, I had to reach out to her on Twitter and let her know. (Although, she didn’t respond at the posting of this blog.)
The Ultra Marathon Mom is a fun book for any runner who is interested in learning about ultra marathons or is interested in reading a book about someone’s running experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
You can buy the book on Amazon or from Meyer & Meyer Sport for $14.95.