Review: Slow AF Run Club
Back in 2013, a few weeks after one of my marathons, I wrote a post about the less glamorous side of running, Tales of Running: The *Gross* Body Edition. Chafing, blisters, bleeding nipples, and the eternal question of where to go when there is no bathroom in sight. Listening to Slow AF Run Club: The Ultimate Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Run by Martinus Evans, I kept thinking that Evans has written a much more thoughtful and insightful expansion of that post. He takes seriously what running marathons does to bodies and all the things you have to prepare for and navigate along the way.
More importantly, Evans steps fully into the idea that, regardless of how people think about their size or how they move, a lot more people can be runners than would ever think so. That is something I certainly relate to after a 32-year hate-hate-more relationship with running that eventually turned into half marathons and marathons.
He is detailed and meticulous about the many ways someone can step into running that are caring and thoughtful and that match what your body is telling you. He is generous with both advice and encouragement, and he returns again and again to the point that you do not have to meet other people's standards and expectations to be a runner.
Evans also draws out the more competitive and derogatory corners of running culture. These moments are few in the book, and they are enough to matter. The derision, questioning, and challenges come from doctors, from people on the street, and from people officiating races. Many people worry about exactly that. Many people fear it or have already experienced it. Evans provides a really thoughtful way to guide readers into running and through that antagonism, whether it is real or anticipated, and toward the places where it isn't happening.
In that respect, I think the book is superbly done. It is a celebratory, thoughtful examination of how one moves into running in a society that doesn't really think about different body types. Evans explores the many ways running can be a beautiful thing for an individual to enjoy, appreciate, and learn about themselves through.
Where the book gets harder for me is its leaning into the materiality and resource heaviness of running. The number of things Evans recommends in terms of equipment, clothing, and shoes adds up. There is also a regularly repeated encouragement to get yourself a running coach and to make sure you're getting regular massages. It is a small part of the book, and it still feels disingenuous to the book as a whole. The book is trying to embrace running as a possibility for everyone, and this thread leans into consumer culture in a way that feels off to me. I get challenged by that.
I do want to be fair to Evans here. Bodies are different, and a larger body faces real costs in chafing, joint load, and finding gear that fits at all. I've written about what goes in my own running tool bag, and I know those costs are real. Recognizing the financial side of running matters. What I missed were the alternatives. Without them, a reader who is looking but hesitant can hear "if you can't afford the massages or the coach, then I guess this won't work for me." That can feel exclusionary. I don't know. I would have appreciated a little more economic range for each of the financial investments he talks about.
The book reminded me of how I want to show up when talking with others about running, especially people who are a different size than those around them or who are navigating weight. First, keep finding ways to include, welcome, and encourage without judging. And encourage without coercing.
It also reinforced something from my own running experience. Who am I running these races for? I'm running them for myself. And what am I running them for? Because it is an act of love and care for my body. Whoever else is out on the road deserves a thumbs-up. They all deserve congratulations for just getting up and going out there. Those are important acts in the day-to-day.
Slow AF Run Club fits alongside other running books that speak to a particular group of people and their relationship with running, blending personal stories, advice gained over years, and the complexities that come with it. It reminded me of Running While Black by Alison Mariella Désir, and there is an interesting overlap with Evans's experience as a larger Black man running. It also sits near Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, which comes from a person with a very different size and body and still offers a meditation on how we end up doing things with our bodies that we often think are impossible. And of course there is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, one of the first books I read in my early days of really running. McDougall helped me see and be in my body differently. Evans does a bit of that too, for readers who may never have pictured themselves on the road at all.
That is who I would hand this book to: anyone for whom running seems unimaginable. Evans gives them a chance to think about what it could actually look like to start. It feels like a possibility worth exploring.
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Did you enjoy this read? Let me know your thoughts down below or feel free to browse around and check out some of my other posts!. You might also want to keep up to date with my blog by signing up for them via email.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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