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If someone had told Pam Reed she would grow up to be an ultramarathon runner,
she would have scoffed. Running bored her. She would cut training runs short;
they were boring. As a young athlete, she pushed herself harder than most and
became frustrated by others. Competitive by nature, she longed to be a world
class-gymnast, qualify for the Olympics, and go home with the gold.
Long-distance running would be the perfect salve for her drive and independence. 

In The Extra Mile, Pam Reed leads us from her early athletic endeavors to her
current status as a world-class distance runner. Along the way, she battles
eating disorders, public perception of the "addictive" nature of running, and
being a target of misunderstanding as a woman, mother and wife.

After a stunning performance in her first distance race in Canada, which she ran
on a lark, Reed was encouraged to run one of the most extreme ultramarathons in the world. Each July fewer than one hundred world-class athletes approach the start line of the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley for a 135 mile race
that is run over a 24-48 hour period. The final 26.2 miles up Mount Whitney and
is the only "cool" spot on the course. Reed entered, ran AND won - by 5 hours. A
fluke? Some thought so. No woman had ever won Badwater, and certainly not by
such a wide margin. So, Reed entered and won a second time; she had the talent and ability. Her previous win was no stroke of luck.   

Still, battles with eating disorders and dissatisfaction with her treatment have
afflicted Reed since adolescence. She maintains that she did not trade one
addiction for another in taking up running, and she honestly discusses (some
would say defends) the often misunderstood nature of a talented distance runner with a difficult - and unrelated - condition.     

Now, as director of the Tucson Marathon and a mother and step-mother to 5 boys, Reed is not sitting back counting her trophies. Rather, she is taking on new races - even races she has previously run. In fact, just last week she entered the Badwater Ultramarathon but had a bad day and had to drop out.

Each race is different, even if the course is the same; you never know how the
day will go because each race requires a delicate and unique balance of physical
and mental stamina. 

From the crew assisting her during the Badwater races - maybe this should be
considered a team sport? - to portraits of runners she admires, to the challenges
for women in sports balancing career and family demands, The Extra Mile reveals an ambitious athlete driven to test extreme physical limits. Pam Reed provides powerful insight into the nutrition, training and mental health of an athlete who is more often considered insane rather than talented. She runs, she says, to do her very best and to keep the darkness away.

Review by Sarah Bagby, August 8, 2006


 

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