Am adding this to my list of books to read. Watched an interview with the author on Fareed Zakaria GPS this morning.
Nicholas Thompson, 49, isn’t wanting for accomplishments—personal nor professional. The CEO of The Atlantic ran a 2:29 marathon at 44 years old, shattering his years-long plateau of 2:43s. Thompson is a former editor for The New Yorker, where he covered the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the former editor-in-chief for Wired, for which he wrote about trying out the recently launched Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% super shoes.
Thompson holds the American record in the 50K for the 45-49 age group (3:04:36), which he ran a few minutes behind his friend, Des Linden, who set the world record in 2:59:54.
The father of three prides himself on a close relationship with his wife and his sons, always prioritizing them, but still finding a way to be on top of his work and running games. For example, Thompson, who lives in Brooklyn, never rides the subway to his lower Manhattan office. He runs to and from work, logging eight miles while listening to podcasts and audiobooks. He tries to be as efficient as possible, which is, perhaps, how he managed to write his second book: The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports (October 2025).
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a65058548/nicholas-thompson-the-running-ground/
Fareed made the observation that you don't have to be a runner to find value in the book, but I imagine it would be of special interest to runners.
@kluurs - have you read it?
