14 Minutes
A Running Legend's Life and Death and Life
By Alberto Salazar; John Brant
(Rodale Books, Paperback, 9781609619985, 280pp.)
Publication Date: April 9, 2013
Other Editions of This Title: Hardcover
Categories: Personal Memoirs, Running & Jogging, Sports - General
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In 2007, after collapsing on a practice field at the Nike campus, champion marathoner Alberto Salazar’s heart stopped beating for 14 minutes. Over the crucial moments that followed, rescuers administered CPR to feed oxygen to his brain and EMTs shocked his heart eight times with defibrillator paddles. He was clinically dead. But miraculously, Salazar was back at the Nike campus coaching his runners just nine days later.
Salazar had faced death before, but he survived that and numerous other harrowing episodes thanks to his raw physical talent, maniacal training habits, and sheer will, as well as—he strongly believes—divine grace.
In 14 Minutes, Salazar chronicles in spellbinding detail how a shy, skinny Cuban-American kid from the suburbs of Boston was transformed into the greatest marathon runner of his era. For the first time, he reveals his tempestuous relationship with his father, a former ally of Fidel Castro; his early running life in high school with the Greater Boston Track Club; his unhealthy obsession to train through pain; the dramatic wins in New York, Boston, and South Africa; and how surviving 14 minutes of death taught him to live again.
Alberto Salazar is a three-time winner of the New York City Marathon and the 1982 Boston Marathon champion. Today he coaches world-class distance runners in the Nike Oregon Project. He lives in Oregon.John Brant is the author of Duel in the Sun. His writing has appeared in Runner’s World, Outside, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Men’s Health. He lives in Portland.
"14 Minutes is an inspirational account of a man who has fought with the Grim Reaper and won. Since he put on his first pair of running shoes, Alberto Salazar has been defying the odds. Through his memoir, people have the privilege to get to know this truly great man and walk away with a renewed appreciation for life.
—Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and 7-time Tour de France champion"A World Record holder who prided himself on his focus, inner drive, and admitted obsession with detail almost loses a race he never thought he'd enter: the one against time. How and why did Alberto survive for 14 minutes with no pulse? His quest to intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually answer these questions gave me a wonderful glimpse inside the mind of this elite marathoner." —Frank Shorter, Olympic gold medalist, marathon, 1972 "Alberto Salazar has lived a remarkable life—two lives, actually—and this engrossing book does justice to them both, knitting miraculous victories with mysterious declines, and the blind ferocity of competition with the clarity of death. It is a story about running, but it is also about faith, grit, and the importance of chasing something larger than ourselves."—David Willey, editor-in-chief, Runner’s World"I’ve known Alberto Salazar since he was a high school runner, but 14 Minutes opened my eyes to who he really is, what he values most, and why he aimed so high. I always felt Alberto had ‘heart’ and this book proves it. It’s a terrific read!"—Bill Rodgers, Boston and New York City Marathon champion"A dramatic account of the risks and rewards of top-level long-distance running."—Kirkus Reviews
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