If you want to be inspired read "Dare to Run"

Below is a forward that I wrote for my friend and fellow ultrarunner Amit Sheth for his book "Dare to Run" which is a collection of very inspiring stories, thoughts and experiences that Amit has experienced personally on his road to becoming a long distance runner. The concepts in the book are universal and inspiring across the board and motivating to anyone reading them whether they run or not. It imparts the feeling of "YES I CAN" achieve any goal that I feel passionate about and put effort into achieving. I have bought this book as a gift for many of my friends and family and the feedback has been so positive and inspired that I would love to share this book with everyone I know. The book is available for purchase online at amazon.com

My (unedited) forward:
"The first time I ever read a story about running written by Amit was on the Comrades Marathon forum in 2009. I was incredibly motivated and moved by the humorous and passionate way in which he told the story of how he dared to run. Amit has the ability to inspire all runners with his wit and style regardless of their abilities as well as those that dream about perhaps running one day. Whenever I meet an aspiring runner looking for direction or motivation, I give them his stories to read and it has the desired effect without fail, they go out and run and suddenly believe that there is a possibility that they too can achieve what they never thought they could. There have been many books and articles written about elite athletes and their stories, training programs and thoughts on the subject but the truth remains that the majority of marathon runners are recreational athletes who have full time jobs, hectic schedules and little time to train and these stories are a reflection of what many of us have experienced in our battle against our own mortality to go above and beyond our comfort zones.


I have had the privilege of meeting Amit and his delightful family in Durban, South Africa at the 2009 Comrades Marathon race. Leading up to that event he was an extremely motivational cyber training partner and subsequently has shared many of his tales from the road with me and has been a tremendous source of encouragement to me in my quest to achieve my own ultra marathon goals. I hope that the stories in this book will inspire the readers as much as they have inspired me."

The Sheth family in Durban South Africa

Amit and myself in Durban before our 89km race in the Comrades Marathon

In addition to all of that Neepa Sheth was the first woman from India to finish the Comrades Marathon ultra marathon in South Africa. Some of the comments I've had are : "Amit really knows how to inspire on a human level"; "I had to put the book down in a restuarant because I started crying"; "I feel inspired to achieve my goals in life" (this was from a non-runner); "Amit has an awesome gift for writing and really get's into the heart of the reader", "I was laughing one minute, crying the next".