 
Harriers: The Making of a Championship Cross Country Team
Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 15
More Information
 On: 2008-09-21
Residing in Ohio, the chronicle of the travails and triumphs of the Salem High School cross-country team has extra meaning; the scoring error in the state championship meet which spoiled a solid season was a controversial issue chronicled in the sports media throughout the Buckeye State.
And that is where the story could have ended, but is only the beginning. The hard work to climb the hill back to the top the following season is the compelling story from team members and cousins Paul and Joe Shivers.
The story is geared to high-school readers and could be used by coaches as a teaching tool. Champions are not made simply from reaching the finish line in first place; they are shaped by adversity and never giving up.
This is an inspirational story that is played every late-summer and fall out on turf courses throughout the nation.
 On: 2008-09-18
Personally, I found that this book wasnt very inspiring and was written quite amateurishly. The only reason I finished it was that it was given to me as gift. If you are looking for and inspiring running book I would highly recommend Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregons Legendary Coach and Nikes Cofounder.
 On: 2008-07-25
To be perfectly honest this book was an utter dissapointment. The language is impressive for the authors age however the overall story line is lacking. The book overemphasized the work effort that the boys upon this team actually underwent, and also downsized the incredible amount of luck that they were able to have 5 extremely talented athletes in two very uncompetetive years for the state of Ohio. In addition the author Joe Shivers desperatley made himself up to be an important member of the team by exagerating the importance of the sixth runner. I myself have competed in numerous major cross country meets and other than within this book I have yet to find a meet where the winner was decided by a sixth runner. This is a prime example of how joe attempted to make his inability to make the top five somehow important and relevant to the story. Overall this is a story of ten or so spoiled boys that manage to be lucky enough through enormous talent and an uncompetetive state meet become state champions. The story has no depth and lacks any sort of inspiration that a book of this nature should posess. If you want a good running book try Running With The Buffaloes by chris lear but do not buy this book for it is a complete disapointment.
On: 2008-06-16
I got this by mistake, thinking it was another running DVD & havent read it.
On: 2008-06-12
Good read - enjoyable, quick. As a parent cross country supporter, I found it insightful to get the kids perspectives.
On: 2008-01-15
This is a great quick read. I had my Girls XC team read it before the season and it really helped with getting all of them on the same page.
 On: 2008-01-13
For two high school guys to run a championship cross country season then write and publish a book about it is no small feat. That warrants a lot of praise. However, as other reviewers have noted, this book is sometimes adolescent and overly detailed without an underlying theme. It seems the authors relied more on their journals rather than crafting a series of anecdotes tailored for the audience. If youre seeking an insightful look into competitive running or an inspiring tale to motivate you, try The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (Contemporary Fiction, Plume). Having grown up and run high school cross country in NE Ohio, there were a lot of points in the story that recalled some great times. Yet this book missed capturing the challenge, emotion and pride of the sport by dwelling on the anxieties and angst of the teenage years.
 On: 2007-12-21
awesome inside look into salems team. it shows their side to a big controversy involving their participation in the state meet, and all the hoops they had to jump through to show how good they truly were. great book for any runner, especially one who ran high school cross country in recent years in ohio.
On: 2007-12-14
If you are an avid runner you will enjoy this book. Style a little juvenile.
On: 2007-07-30
I enjoyed this story, very motivational. Those not intimately acquainted with xc running might have difficulty with some of the technical aspects of scoring meets. I personally would have preferred less of that and more on the human interest angle. It is a very creditable job considering the age of the authors.
On: 2006-12-01
I just finished reading this book and found it fascinating.
Living in Western Australia, High School Cross country team running was not something I had ever been familiar with, and that made this book even more appealing to me.
It appears to be aimed at a younger reader but the authors are very mature in their writing and learning about the ins and outs of being part of a running team was really interesting. There are also parts of the book that cover the girls team too.
A really great read.
On: 2006-06-18
The book is truthful, it doesnt cut any corners and shows each team-mate in his true colors. The ups and downs of the team are covered. How these trials are dealt with is what made the team, and this book, excel. Harriers is a must read for any athlete or coach.
On: 2006-06-17
The book is truthful, it doesnt cut any corners and shows each team-mate in his true colors. The ups and downs of the team are covered. How these trials are dealt with is what made the team, and this book, excel. Harriers is a must read for any athlete or coach.
On: 2006-05-24
Highly recommended for cross-country runners and their coaches.
As a runner I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of all the championship races. The authors gave execellent insights into the moods and outside interests that can cause chaos on any team.
As a coach, the book held my interest since the writers were runners on the Salem XC team. However, more detailed descriptions of the training during the season would have made the book more interesting.
As a writer, I was amazed at the quality of writing these high school authors exhibited. Excellent job! Their personal insights into the runners feelings and moods were top notch.
On: 2006-05-23
Highly recommended for cross-country runners and their coaches.
As a runner I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of all the championship races. The authors gave execellent insights into the moods and outside interests that can cause chaos on any team.
As a coach, the book held my interest since the writers were runners on the Salem XC team. However, more detailed descriptions of the training during the season would have made the book more interesting.
As a writer, I was amazed at the quality of writing these high school authors exhibited. Excellent job! Their personal insights into the runners feelings and moods were top notch.
On: 2006-05-02
This is a true account of cross-country seasons at Salem HS written by two gifted students on the team. This is a participants view of a team that over the course of two years develops from a very competitive region team to a team that wins State. The book is well detailed on cross-country in the sense that the student authors appropriately make the point that no matter how good the top runners are on a team, and they have several excellent runners, winning a championship depends on where your 5th man finishes. The other nice emphasis, as the authors nicely describe, is how each individual develops in training and in actual races. You get a nice feel for cross-country racing as the authors give a personal perspective on what it is like to prepare for race day, how they determine their race plans (preference for pace or going out with the leaders), the effect of the course terrain and the weather and what it is like on those days that you feel great and those when you know you dont have it.
The story is fascinating reading not only how the four stars improve and compete among themselves but they authors also write a healthy description of the competition for the 5th, 6th and final varsity spot. And as the authors well describe, the 6th and 7th man do make a difference particularly when the 5th man falters. The book spends most of its time on cross-country with short references to track but the authors note that all three of the top runners run the two mile close to 10 flat with their top runner breaking out with a 9:40 prior to the second CC season. I would have liked to have known more about their post CC workouts as the school seemed to produce some very good talent with depth. The teams top runners were very talented and placed very high in their region and state yet they were beat by some outstanding individuals at the big meets. Thus they were in a very competitive state division. Besides the dedication of the athletes, the coaching is impressive along with how the runners adapted to the workouts. For example, in a quality distance run, the runners occasionally wear heart monitors in order to maintain a specific effort for a specific period of time. In another technical note, their advanced coach uses a GPS to determine where the true mile splits on race courses are to help his team with their pace during races. The school also features an outstanding booster club that is pretty unique for HS distance runners. The book also captures the difficulties of success, such as over training injuries or too much success or praises effect on a young runner. And, a nicety of the book is capturing the coachs efforts to tailor a workout appropriate for particular athletes as some require more recovery than others. And there is suspense, a great finish marred by technical officiating failures that leave you guessing what will happen and what is fascinating is that it is a true story. A satellite story is the development of the girls team that features two outstanding athletes and the girls eventually rival the boys in regards to success at the State meet. There is also the cross-country/track coachs greatest fear, exemplified in Runners World editorials by Marc Bloom, that soccer may steal your best runner as it almost does in this story. The book is ideal for young high school aspiring runners and in fact it could be used as a HS coachs recruitment tool. This book is an excellent view of cross-country from the trenches or from the ground.
On: 2006-04-19
This the true story of a high school cross country team in Salem Ohio that grows from "also rans" to champions (with a lot of controversy in between). The story is quite compelling. The fact that it was written by two of the athletes on the team will stun you. It is extremely well written. I would have never guessed it was the product of two high school students.
In my estimation it becomes the third volume of the cross country trilogy which started with "Running with the Buffaloes" and continued with "God on the Starting Line". It offers a unique perspective of the high school runner. It is the season seen through there eyes. It rings true with their hopes, dreams, disapointments and triumphs. Im not sure anyone has written so clearly about the "feeling" of racing.
This a very well written little gem of a book.
|
|
