Randy Klassen
Perhaps Joy is the Reward: A Late Start, Going Far, and a 50/50 Chance
Non-Fiction / Reference
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In stock
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Perhaps Joy is the Reward: A Late Start, Going Far, and a 50/50 Chance
Perhaps Joy is the Reward is the story of how, at age forty-eight, Randy Klassen started to run—by accident—and how one day of procrastination at age fifty-four set him on a quest to complete a 100-mile ultramarathon before turning sixty, and on a physical and mental journey he never saw coming.
Readers will be intrigued by the challenges he faced as he increased his distances, sometimes by twist of fate, and the failures that befell him along the way. In this roadmap to achievement, Klassen generously shares the practical lessons he learned over those eleven years: questions runners ask when they hang with him, the sweeper at the back of the Saturday Capra Trail Running Club in Squamish, BC. He also takes the reader on a journey into the unconscious mind of an ultrarunner to answer the questions: what are we, and why do we find pleasure in the pain of running far?
Finally, Perhaps Joy is the Reward reveals how Randy discovered that sometimes the greatest challenge, and most meaningful experience, is not to cross the finish line of our loftiest goal but to fight to recross the start line of a cherished race lost along the way—with time running out.
The discoveries he made through the decade of his fifties as he built up his fitness and mental capacity to endure a 100-mile trail race are inspiring—we can get stronger as we get older!
Randy Klassen is a dedicated ultrarunner living in Squamish, BC, Canada. A proud father, grandfather, and husband to Cindy for forty years, he is a friend to everyone he meets on the trail. A lifelong storyteller, his happy place is being in a community where people learn, make mistakes, expand personal boundaries, and grow by taking on new challenges.