Reviews

Spirit Run; Running the Dream

The son of Mexican immigrants, Noé Álvarez spent his childhood in Yakima, Wash., working alongside his mother picking apples at a local plant. This debut memoir recounts the struggles he and his family endured and the opportunity he eventually received via a university scholarship to escape the family’s predicament.

While attending Whitman College, Álvarez discovered the Peace and Dignity Journey, a 6,000-mile relay-style ultramarathon that starts in Canada and finishes in Guatemala. The movement, started in 1992 by indigenous communities in North and South America, is a way for these communities to reunite and reclaim dignity for their families and communities through non-competitively running great distances. Compelled by the cause, the 19-year-old student drops out of college to join the four-month long run.

Álvarez describes the obstacles he encountered while running with the group (feeling like an outsider, pushing his body to new limits, facing his fears and overcoming hunger and thirst), and weaves into the narrative the stories of the men and women he shares this life-changing voyage with.

It is during these months and by running through the areas of Mexico his parents f led that the young runner reconnected to the land and his family’s history, altering forever his views about freedom and his future. This is a touching and eye-opening memoir.— Melissa Offner