Once a Runner

John L. Parker Jr.

Years after an extraordinary running career, Quenton Cassidy has settled into the respectable life of a lawyer—but the pull of competition is impossible to ignore. In his early thirties, he returns to the punishing discipline of elite distance training, setting his sights on one last Olympic dream and the ultimate test of his physical and mental limits. As preparation gives way to an intensely demanding marathon campaign, the boundaries between reality, memory, and imagination begin to blur. A reflective and psychologically charged sequel, the novel explores ambition, sacrifice, aging, and the relentless pursuit of transcendence through John L. Parker Jr.’s vivid, deeply informed portrait of the running life.