I bought an old paperback book from our local thrift shop a couple of weeks ago, and think it must be Doc's first book on running. I had read about him before and knew that he was a fitness guru, yet never realized how inspirational his writings were, until I read his book. Being 47 years old myself, it fascinates me that Doctor Sheehan was able to start running again while in his forties and compile a record of world class times for distances from 1/2 mile to the marathon and, I suspect, beyond. And the fact that he helped raise 12 children speaks volumes of what an amazing individual he was. I found his work to be both insightful and delightful. Thanks for leaving us a record of your life, Doc.

I am 47 years old myself and have rediscovered the writings of George Sheehan. In my early twenties I read "Running and Being" and then a few years later "Personal Best." At the time I was running religiously, competing in marathons and 10K runs (mostly against myself)and training somewhere between 35-50 miles a week. When a read Sheehan, it was like he was inside my head describing the euphoria I was experiencing while running. Unfortunately, graduate school and needing to feed and provide for a family with small children, my running was sporadic until I was 37. At that point, my running was a "heresy" as defined by Sheehan, because my reasons were to regain my fitness and not for the pure enjoyment. With still many pounds to go, my running is becoming for me once again in this last year a legitimate spiritual activity. Last week I read "Going the Distance" and was once again filled with the wisdom of this running philospher in his last days of life. I am in the Christian ministry profession, and I view Sheehan's writings as some of those most spiritual modern writings I have read. Fitness for me has become a spiritual discipline because of Sheehan's influence.

A couple of weeks ago a good friend thrust a very battered copy of 'Dr Sheehan on Running' into my hands telling me that 'I got to read it'.

I was inspired by the book, and despite being written over 30 years ago, his words are a relevant and inspirational as the day he wrote them. I have already passed the book onto another of my friends as it is too good to sit gathering dust on a bookshelf.