Title: A Few More Laps
Author: David Chalfen
Publisher: David Chalfen
Published: 30/09/2024
Pages: 196
ISBN: 9781399994361
The author
Author David Chalfen is a coach with the Highgate Harriers in London, UK. It was mostly with the Harriers that Chalfen’s experiences informed A Few More Laps.
Chalfen’s story is strictly speaking a memoir. He delivers anecdotes and observations from a life well run.
Chalfen is a UK Athletics-certified Level 4 performance coach and holds a marathon best of 2:32. Since 2009, he has worked as a coach and mentor supporting the development of coaches in and around London.
Chalfen authored the book “Improving Your Marathon and Half Marathon Running,” which was endorsed by four-time Olympian and World Championship marathon runner Dan Robinson.
While the same physiological systems drive the 3000-metre steeplechaser as the short ultramarathon runner, Chalfen influences marathon runners the most; everyone in between can benefit from his insight. He has coached many sub-2:30 finishers. Chalfen continues to coach the competitive, sub-elite and elite athletes willing to put in the necessary work.
He has managed numerous elite athletes, both African professionals and British.
The review
Should anyone, especially those newer to running lore, want to grasp the true culture of distance running, they may do so by reading this book. While humans were running long before the British popularized it, modern history owes its story to the island nation, especially in cross-country and marathon running.
A Few More Laps is an homage and a love letter to the sport.
The memoir is a compilation of stories and anecdotes from the uncanny community of competitive distance running. The book begins with a preamble about the author’s first-person perspective on the British club environment. He guides the reader along the trail of international running and the commitment required to achieve the global level. Chalfen has run, coached, been an agent and has managed camps in the UK and in Africa. He has coached the average and the elite. His wealth of knowledge and experience comes alive with humour and wisdom in this first-person narrative.
As the world of running is experiencing yet another boom, the author delves into his 45 years of experience in the sport, as athlete, coach and administrator, to examine the changes, the people, and events that shape it. Using his own experiences, he then broadens the perspective with wonderful bios from a range of current and recent high-level athletes he has coached. Chalfen also provides his perspective on the culture of European and African athletics based on his own experiences and observations.
Chalfen provides insight into the chasm between the sporting nature of athletics and the participatory community of running. The two communities are one and never stray far from each other. But humour, greed and the fascinating commitment of the focused run from the pages at each turn.
As competitive British marathon runner Mara Yamauchi writes, “If you get the measure of running…this book is for you.”
However, if you have not yet gotten the measure of running, it is high time you read this book. It’s one for the ages.
Chalfen will leave you wanting a few more laps literally and literarily.
