PUBLISHED 10/31/2007
Benjamin Cheever, novelist, marathoner, and Runner's World writer-at-large, recently published a new book, Strides: Running Through History With an Unlikely Athlete. Part memoir, part history, part narrative journalism, Strides is smart, provocative, and best of all, funny. Here's a brief chat with Cheever. To purchase Strides, go to rodalestore.com
Runner's World: You ran your first marathon 30 years ago, and you're running New York on Sunday. Why?
Ben Cheever: Hard to explain why anyone would run a marathon, but there must be a reason. It's almost as hard to get into the Boston Marathon now as it is to get into Harvard, and people contribute thousands of dollars in order to run the New York Marathon.
So why do I do it? Because a marathon is always a big deal. Sometimes I have a horrible, horrible time of it. But often I have a horrible wonderful time of it. It's deeply gratifying to start out to do something that seems impossible.
RW: Your new book, Strides, is about running, and writing. How do those intersect, in your mind?
BC: Talent's important in both endeavors, but in both writing and long-distance running, talent becomes less and less important over time. I'm a much more successful runner now at 60 than are many of my peers who were faster than me in high school. And I'm sure I've had more successes as a writer than many more talented people. I just spent more time writing. Stephen King once said that a writer is somebody who writes for two hours a day for ten years.
RW: You've written novels and nonfiction. How was writing Strides different?
BC: I did a lot of research for Strides. I learned a lot. So that was fun. But then facts aren't always a comfort. Sometimes your research forces you to abandon a cherished position.
RW: What do people achieve by running?
BC: I fear that the default position in our society is to accept fame and money as the two marks of success. But when we think about it, most of us conclude that what we really want in life is happiness. The problem here is that happiness is even more elusive than fame and money. So we set out to get fame and money, with the idea that we'll find happiness afterwards. Most runners will not be famous, and most of them will spend money rather than earning it.
So running looks like a rotten idea. But I love it. It makes me happy. It finds me friends. It improves me physically, and this improves me intellectually. I think some people are actually put off of running by its association with health. They don't want to live forever. And they're right. But most bitten runners will tell you that they don't run for their health. They run for the joy in it.
RW: It seems like so many runners are readers and even writers. Why do you suppose that is?
BC: I don't know why this is so, but the classic runner is apt to be smart, and smart people read. Readers write.
