The Unforgiving Hours The Grit, Resilience, and Perseverance at the Heart of Endurance Sports

Through the exploration of incredible physical feats-some well-known and some only passed around watering holes and campfires-endurance athlete and journalist Shannon Hogan takes us into the world of those who have pushed themselves through the "unforgiving hours" to achieve greatness and redefine modern outdoor adventuring.

In the pages of The Unforgiving Hours, you will read the stories of:
Gunhild Swanson running the Western States 100 Endurance Run five days shy of her seventy-first birthday
Kelly Danielson and team Sail Like a Girl, the first all-female sailing team to win the Race to Alaska
Gordon Wadsworth racing the hardest mountain bike race in the world while opting for only one bike gear
Lynne Cox breaking the record for swimming across the English Channel at age 15
Yuichiro Hidaka dreaming of eating potato chips while running the Boston Double for the fourth time
Seana Hogan, the current cycling transcontinental female record holder (set at age 35) fighting the race clock and Father Time to finish Race Across America at age 60
John Stamstad voyaging to Alaska for an all-night February bike race in the bush of the Last Frontier
Melissa Kegler training for two years to break the American Ice Mile Distance record in 39.2ºF water
Chris Jones embarking on The Last Great Race-six 100-mile ultramarathons to be completed over the course of one summer
And Tina Ament, along with Anne Thilges, crossing the finish line at 16 hours, 18 minutes, and 5 seconds to establish one of the most inspiring records in endurance sports.
Blending top-notch sports writing, armchair adventure and travel, and an insightful thesis on the human spirit, The Unforgiving Hours is an indelible chronicle of odysseys that showcase the determination, creativity, joy, strength, and inspiration at the heart of endurance sports.