Running Ransom Road (eBook)

The monikers drunk, addict, abuser, and boozehound were Caleb Daniloff's for fifteen years. Now, the introduction that fits him best is My name is Caleb and I am a runner.

In Running Ransom Road, Daniloff, many years sober, confronts his past by setting out, over the course of eighteen months, to run marathons in the cities where he once lived and wreaked havoc. Competing from Boston to New York, Vermont to Moscow, Daniloff explores the sobering and inspiring effects of running as he traverses the trails of his former self, lined with dark bars, ratty apartments, lost loves, and lost chances. With each race he comes to understand who he is, and by extension who he was, and he finds he is not alone. There are countless souls in sneakers running away from something, or better, running past and through whatever it is that haunts them.

In this powerful story of ruin, running, and redemption, Daniloff illuminates the connection between running and addiction and shows that the road to recovery is an arduous but conquerable one. Strapping on a pair of Nikes won't banish all your demons, but it can play an important role in maintaining a clean life. For Daniloff, sweat, strained lungs, and searing muscles are among the paving stones of empowerment, and, if he's lucky, perhaps even self-forgiveness.

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One man’s chronicle of his road to recovery as he quits drinking, puts on sneakers, and sweats his way through sobriety. Caleb Daniloff never set out to be a marathoner. Then again, he never set out to be a drunk, either. But after years of sobriety, he puts on a pair of running shoes and starts down a path that will lead him to compete in marathons across the world on a journey of self-discovery.   As he runs from Boston to Vermont to Moscow, Daniloff draws lessons from the road and confronts the most destructive period in his life, completing races in each of the cities where he once lived and wreaked havoc. With each step, Daniloff is forced to face his issues rather than maneuver around them. And as he moves forward, he connects with others who have also taken up running on their path to recovery.   At once a memoir of addiction, healing, and pushing past your limitations, Running Ransom Road is ultimately the poignant story of one man’s trek to a better life, one mile at a time—and “his captivating narrative describes a journey of personal redemption that, fortunately for us, he is willing to share” (Frank Shorter, Olympic marathon gold medalist).   “Running Ransom Road is Caleb Daniloff’s unblinking, ultimately triumphant account of his journey from mean, hopeless drunk back to humanity and himself—through distance running. It’s a searing tale of spiritual redemption—one marathon, one mile, one brave, difficult step at a time.” —Steve Friedman, coauthor of New York Times bestseller Eat & Run and author of the memoir Lost on Treasure Island