Completing one marathon is quite an accomplishment; completing 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days is nothing less than miraculous.

In 2006, marathon man Dean Karnazes accomplished this feat as a part of North Face's Endurance 50 challenge, which has since developed into an annual event. In 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days - and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!, Dean explains what it was like to run in 42 recreated and 8 national marathons.

The book is also filled with healthy tips on how to best run a 26.2-mile marathon, including the recommended gear to wear and how much food to eat before running.

Because running an entire marathon, let alone a recreated marathon with only a few dozen people in it, takes a ton of conviction, some of the people Dean encountered were insane in their persistence and confidence. In Hawaii, one of the people racing beside him was a Japanese man who had postponed his honeymoon just to prove his mettle. In Virginia, one man suffered a critical injury just shy of the finish line and literally crawled the last lengths of the race.

Karnazes does a solid job in turning one of the most unwatchable sports into a good read. However, if you're not into uplifting sports stories about people enduring the elements and going beyond their limits, this probably isn't for you. For anyone who wants to read a story based on marathon-running, this is as good as it gets.

Amazon.com: 50/50