Racing the Clock: Running Across a Lifetime

Bernd Heinrich is back with his unique blend of scientific knowledge, love of running, passion for nature, and nostalgic storytelling that made Why We Run a best seller.

Heinrich is a Ph.D. in Biology and a distance runner with impressive accolades. The topic of his new book is the passage of time, the biological clock, and humanity’s role as part of Earth’s biological system. On the eve of turning eighty years old, Heinrich reflects on running, from high school cross country to marathons and ultramarathons. He reflects on his career as an academic and his life as a human adoring the natural world.

Although informative and occasionally poetic, Heinrich’s prose can also be a bit dry at times. Coming from the working world of biology lab reports doesn’t exactly make one an exciting writer. Also, fans of Why We Run will find some stories repeated in Racing the Clock as the author reflects on his past yet again, only with a new guiding concept.

By the conclusion of this book, though, Heinrich leaves the reader with an uplifting and hopeful meditation on unity through nature and running.