Come What May, I Want to Run: A Memoir of the Saving Grace of Ultrarunning in Overwhelming Times
Ebook
Growing up, Miriam is an average athlete who doesn't get much playing time. She never imagines becoming a runner. But a college breakup propels her to run to mend her broken heart. She begins running 5K races. These races morph into half-marathons and marathons. Years later, running helps her to cope with the workplace mistreatment she is enduring as an academic and the depression she suffers.
After watching Dean Karnazes and Pam Reed on 60 Minutes talk about ultrarunning, Miriam signs up for the JFK 50 ultra. With the love and support of her family, she runs an ultramarathon every year. A few years later, Miriam is unable to run normally until she is diagnosed with neurological B12 deficiency and gets her running legs back.
Three days after placing third female in a twenty-four-hour ultramarathon, Miriam's scheduled laparoscopic hysterectomy is only the beginning of her medical and surgical nightmare. When her husband Jon is diagnosed with stage four cancer, Miriam runs ultramarathons for his healing.
In Come What May, I Want to Run, the reader keeps pace with Miriam as she overcomes adversity, and her unrelenting faith, perseverance, resiliency, and running ultramarathons never waiver.
“Come What May, I Want to Run is a beautifully written story of triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversity. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I learned. Miriam Díaz-Gilbert shows us that with enough positivity and perseverance, anything is possible.”
—Dean Karnazes, author of Ultramarathon Man
“Honest, raw, and motivating! Miriam Díaz-Gilbert’s memoir tells of life-threatening fears, obstacles, and challenges, and how to deal with them with deep faith and a positive attitude. Her story speaks of overcoming insurmountable odds as she turns them into successes through long distance running. I encourage everyone to get inside the mind of this ultra-runner and recognize the fact that life is never easy, but great success awaits us all if we’re willing to work through the issues.”
—Bill Watts, author of Running for the Average Joe
“Miriam Díaz-Gilbert masterfully tells an inspiring story of personal growth, using running as both medicine and a launchpad to success. When life is good, she runs to celebrate. When life is hard, she runs to heal. The honest, unvarnished storytelling is fantastic, with just the right amount of humor mixed in to let us know that she is grateful for all of it. I loved this book.”
—Charlie Engle, author of Running Man
“Running inspires creativity, relieves stress, and gives us insight into ourselves and the world, making the human condition more tolerable.I felt an interconnection with Miriam Díaz-Gilbert in the ways running played to help her overcome lots of obstacles.”
—Bart Yasso, author of Race Everything
- Title: Come What May, I Want to Run: A Memoir of the Saving Grace of Ultrarunning in Overwhelming Times
- Author: Miriam Díaz-Gilbert
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666768077, 9781666768060, 1666768065, 9781666768053, 1666768057, 1666768073
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666768077
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-05-09T22:55:32Z
Miriam Díaz-Gilbert was born and raised in Connecticut. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and LaSalle University. She has taught ESL, first-year writing, and theology/religion studies. She has been running races since 1989 and ultramarathons since 2005. She is published in academic journals, Huffington Post, Ultrarunning Magazine, Women’s Running Magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Running for Good, and Cancer Today. Miriam and her husband Jon have two children and three grandchildren.