Marc Bloom

Fascinating read about Fayetteville-Manlius's high school cross country national domination. I was inspired, envious, and sometimes appalled. It's inspiring to see high schooler's work so hard and selflessly toward excellence, but I had to wonder about the overall general concerns that exist in the sport like overtraining leading to physical debilitation, mental breakdowns, and eating disorders. These issues were only moderately addressed and reading between the lines you could glimpse these things are a legitimate concern.

This book was heavy on very detailed descriptions of races, especially the second half, probably exceeding an extent that most would be interested in. I was a bit annoyed at the theme of women's equality but there still existing descriptions from both the author and Aris in regards to the female athletes being little, flowering, blooming, their sexual awakening, and being mysteriously emotional (this last one being exceptionally notable as there were many scenes of the boy athletes and Aris having excessive emotional outbursts, as that is what happens to most people regardless of gender). But I guess we are all a product of our culture.… (plus d'informations)

Cross-country is the Rodney Dangerfield of sports in many high schools, overshadowed by the soccer craze and derided as a fall-back for those unable to make the cut in the glamour sports. If more people read "God on the Starting Line" they might see this sport for what it is: a demanding test of willpower, pain tolerance and team cohesiveness played out in a natural setting.

As Marc Bloom illustrates through this vivid depiction of his undermanned squad's break-through season, cross country is completely at odds with the pressures and temptations faced by today's adolescents in our video-game, fast-food culture. It's his ability as a coach to connect with these kids and instill a desire to rise above the ordinary that makes this simple story such a triumph.

The author, in his exuberance to connect with the reader and in his meditations on the larger meaning of running, lapses into a series of seemingly random associations in some passages that break up the training and race descriptions. Yet those with the patience to follow his train of thought through these interludes may come away convinced that the purification-by-pain and honest living demanded by cross-country running do indeed bring both coach and athlete closer to the divine.

-Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"… (plus d'informations)