Rethinking Track and Field

When Gairdner got to Stanford University, he met a charming Professor who was very overweight and a four-pack-a-day smoker. But he loved track and field. So Gairdner made a deal. “You help me get smart; I will train you to run.” Two years later, “the Prof”, as he was affectionately known, had lost forty pounds, quit smoking, and set four world records in Masters sprinting events. (Gairdner never mentions whether he got smart). But after the Prof’s death in 2000, he inherited, edited, and arranged publication of the manuscript of this book. It’s a book that seeks to revolutionize “the world’s oldest sport” by way of what a discerning critic has called “a decapitating analysis.”