A quick & enjoyable read. Murakami is preparing to run in the New York Marathon, and due to his perceived failure in his last marathon, he uses talking about his training, and his reasons for running as part of his preparation for the run. As part of thinking about why he runs, he also considers why he writes books. It’s a very personal account, he’s honest about his abilities and his reasons for continuing what he does.

Along the way he recalls previous runs, including his only attempt at an ultramarathon where he has some near religious epiphany about the experience about 2/3 of the way through the race. Ultimately he works out why running is so important to him, and why he will keep doing it for as long as he can, even if his performance at the New York marathon doesn’t end up giving him the ‘Rocky’ moment he is hoping for.