Author Jared Beasley joins me to chat about his upcoming book, In Search of Al Howie. Howie was not only an accomplished mega-distance runner, but a person who’s life was full of stories and extreme highs and lows: He used fake names to evade law enforcement, couldn’t afford a simple bus ticket to races, and worked itinerant jobs, all while setting running records that still stand today.

Al Howie

For those not familiar with Al Howie, you’re in for quite an awakening. Howie was a Scotsman-turned-Canadian whose ultrarunning exploits in the 80s and 90s are hard to fathom:

* He ran across Canada in a still-world-record of 72 days (that’s just over 100k/day), then two weeks later, ran 1300 miles to break his own world record.* Howie (ahem) still holds the world record for longest run without stopping by running 360 miles around a standard track. * He ran from England through France to the island of Sardinia to compete in a marathon.

Al Howie cross training with a beer on a bike.

In this interview, author/biographer Jared Beasley talks about how he came across Al Howie and what he learned from talking to him over the last few years of his life. How severe was the mental illness Howie suffered? What did he think his own accomplishments, and which races stood out? And what about that cancer diagnosis that was cured with a macrobiotic diet?

Al Howie during his 1,000 mile run at Sri Chimnoy

Al Howie Episode Notes

Here’s info and purchasing info for the book. It’ll be released in October 2019.

Your author and guest, Jared Beasley.

Here’s Jared’s site.

Here’s the Dinkelacker beer he was talking about.

Here’s a link to the only race in which Al Howie and Yiannis Kouros competed head to head.

Intro and outro music used courtesy of David Rosales. Find his music and tour schedule right here.