"Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr.

Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. concerns a miler named Quenton Cassidy. Cassidy attends a Florida panhandle college psuedonymously named "Southeastern Univesity". The novel starts out with Cassidy living an "Animal House" existence in a fraternity for athletes. Cassidy is by far the best runner among the underclassmen, and is the captain of the track team. He is also the ringleader of practical jokes, in one scene concocting an elaborate mock trial for one runner accused of cheating. The early chapters of the book zip along with the effervescence of early college life, in which partying, dating, running and rarely studying make up the course of a day.

The Athletic Director and Football Coach for Southeastern University is a man named Dooley, the son of a prime benefactor of the college, and whose appointment as coach was a by-product of his father's open purse strings. Dooley is a man with simple tastes - whiskey, mistresses, 3 downs and out - and he gets it in his head one day to enforce a dress code for all athletes. This being the 70's naturally many athletes rebel, and as Captain it is Cassidy's duty to present these complaints to Dooley. The conflict between Cassidy and Dooley takes a downward spiral to the point where Cassidy is kicked off the team.

The novel deals with the conflict with restraint - it plays out against the backdrop of Cassidy striving to be the best he can be at running. And the prose Parker dedicates to the 'why' of running is sublime and fantastic. He reports from the inside-out on what makes someone push themselves to pain and limited glory - it is the search the drive for the unattainable, a slice of heaven on earth.

There is a famous quote from Chariots of Fire, in which the runner declares that when he is running, he is running to God. Also brings to mind the bible verse of 'run your race as if it is your last'. Cassidy does not plan for his future - after he is kicked off the team he is taken under the tutelage of Denton, a past Olympian. Gone now are the sophmoric shenanigans - rather they both press into the discipline of running. On the altar all must be sacrificed - girlfriends, worldly ambitions, college degrees, partying. And if one is pure and dedicated enough, victory will be achieved.

The last few chapters cover the race between a disguised Cassidy (to circumvent the ban) and the world record holder of the mile. The tension builds and I found myself gripped with the story, my heart beating faster as the two racers go round the track. The story is admirably told as it alternates between a meta-view, in which the reader has a detached feeling of watching characters in a play, and live action, in which you feel like you there on the track, racing with the wind in your hair.

Definitely an inspiration! Published in 1978, it contains references to the events of that era, but it does not feel dated. The prose that describes the feeling of running on full moon nights, the hammering of your heart, the gasping of breath, the drive to touch the divine is spot on and is a subject that is timeless.