Did Not Finish: Misadventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming
In a nutshell
Wedding photographer George Mahood writes with humour about his failures in running, cycling and swimming. No advice, no superhumans, just light reading that radiates joy of life.
Who it's for: Readers looking for fun and an easy read.
Maybe not for: Anyone looking for advice on preparing for a marathon or a triathlon.
Looking for a book that will help you prepare properly for a marathon, a triathlon or a 10 km swim? A book with the right advice on nutrition, recovery and the gear you need? Then keep looking. If you’re after fun and light reading, you’re in the right place. You’ll stop being afraid of DNF: Did Not Finish.
DNF: (Mis)adventures in Running, Cycling and Swimming is the first in a series of six DNF books the author wrote and published through Amazon. Nothing cheers you up like someone else’s misfortune. Finally I won’t be reading about guys who run around the world, rewrite the limits of the possible or fix their own lives and other people’s. Finally I’ve found a loser. I order it and dive straight in.
The author writes about his own experiences, into which he somewhat selfishly dragged his wife Rachel. The perfect opportunity to spend time together. Supposedly. He took it step by step, and after a series of runs, each on their own, one day they stood together at the start of a marathon. Not some easy flat road race, but the Salcombe Coastal Marathon, which follows part of the South West Coast Path along England’s southern coast. You can tell straight away that this is a rather unusual race. The vast majority of participants are members of the so-called Hash House Harriers. They call themselves “a drinking club with a running problem”.
The club dates back to 1938, when British soldiers in Kuala Lumpur went out on regular weekly runs. To beat their hangovers and drink more beer. The movement is still very much alive, and reportedly there are over 2,000 such clubs registered around the world. Every week runners with nicknames full of sexual innuendo (the name “hash” gives you a hint) go out on regular runs from pub to pub and organise unusual races in which flour plays an important role. What’s it for? You’ll find out in the book. It’s certainly an inspiring idea, and maybe one day we’ll see such an unusual run in the Czech Republic too.
George and Rachel managed the unusual race, and it probably didn’t turn out too badly, family life included. Next comes the Edinburgh Marathon. For me personally, a chance to go back in my memories to my own battle with the wind. The more important marathon in the book is the one in Rome. The perfect excuse for a long weekend without the kids. We read not only about the race itself, but also get a few tips on what’s worth seeing in the city.
You could say that up to this point the book is very readable and full of running adventures. Even the experience of their joint triathlon was fun. The end of the book, however, focuses for quite a long time on a family holiday in France (as if it were training) and on a 10 km swim in the River Dart, The Dart 10km. Given his minimal training, I’m not surprised this experience became the centrepiece of the book.
Towards the end the author says that what matters isn’t whether you finish a race or not. What matters is gaining new experiences, pushing your limits, overcoming your fears and hoping you’ll experience something interesting along the way. Some might call it bravery, others stupidity. By overcoming these challenges and limits, our comfort zone grows. And that’s what counts. There’s no shame in a DNF next to your name, because behind every unfinished race is the effort to try. And a DNF is better than a DNS (did not start).
As I said at the beginning, there are six books in the DNF series with various subtitles. George, a wedding photographer by trade, has written seven more books about his Ironman experience, family trips and wanderings through the British countryside. They won’t be literary masterpieces, but they’re worth reading. They simply radiate joy of life and of every new day. No wonder, since George managed to beat a cancerous tumour in his spine…
