What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives

What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives

Author: Visit Amazon's Bruce Grierson Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0805097201 | Format: EPUB

What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives Description

Review

"While this book provides an accessible overview of the current science on aging, its charm comes from the tale of a woman who refuses to hang up her track shoes, and the younger man she inspires." —The New York Times
"Entertaining, informative, and surprisingly moving."—The Boston Globe
"An inspirational blend of hero's journey and science that delves into the mystery of longevity, health and personal fulfillment." —Shelf Awareness
"An inspiring book that should appeal to the legions of worried agers." —Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"If you need some motivation to reach your potential, this might be the story for you." —Cape Cod Times
"Grierson's fellow boomers have much to learn from Olga's example."—Publishers Weekly

"Eye-opening and insightful." --Kirkus

"Smart and engaging, What Makes Olga Run is also profoundly inspiring. It will make you wish you were half as fit and exuberant as Olga, whatever your age, while providing a fascinating look at the latest science on aging." —Gretchen Reynolds, author of The First 20 Minutes

"I am nuts about this book and about Olga. But the real kick was accompanying Bruce Grierson - a very good　writer - as he took a smart, deep look into the new science of　aging - and not aging - at the high end. I know this field a bit, and I still learned important new stuff...all of it great news. Hint: work out like a lunatic 'til the day you die. And jiggle your feet the rest of the time. Olga 'redefined' Grierson's life; she may redefine yours."--Chris Crowley, co-author of the Younger Next Year books and Thinner This Year

"In Olga, Grierson has a magical character with whom to explore the fascinating science of aging--a nonagenerian undecathlete. (That is, a 90-something who excels in 11 different events.) We are left with the empowering knowledge that, to a startling degree, aging itself is a choice." —David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene

About the Author

Bruce Grierson is the author of the books Culture Jam and U-Turn. He has been a freelance writer for twenty-five years. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Psychology Today, among other publications. He lives in North Vancouver, Canada.

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Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (January 14, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805097201
ISBN-13: 978-0805097207
Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Bruce Grierson's book What Makes Olga Run? presents an intriguing picture of Olga Kotelko, a Canadian who carries a ton of energy on her tiny frame. She is an athlete who has won a huge amount of medals in competitive track and field events. Those accomplishments are mentioned in such clarity as to provide inspiration to get moving. Add to Olga's athletic prowess the fact that she was born in 1919, and you have the stuff that makes for a fascinating narrative.

The thought occurs that Mr. Grierson's book title could have ended with a period instead of a question mark. Various reasons are offered for what is behind the energy that has kept Olga going. For instance, there is the hereditary factor. Some people carry in their genetic makeup a likelihood for longevity. There is the choice factor. Olga chooses to constantly keep moving. She chooses to drink enormous amounts of water. The book digs deep into those kinds of things.

Only recently have some things happened to indicate the possibility that it might not be much longer before there's an end to Olga's incredible story. As the book nears the end, Grierson briefly touches on a potentially serious health issue. And he writes of a fall down a flight of stairs not long ago. But on March 2, 2014, she will be 97. And if health adversities can be overcome by anyone, the person who is capable of survival is surely Olga. She is not a quitter. She made a wise choice to make the most of her life, regardless of her age. She does not want to roll over and play dead, yet is ready to accept the inevitable whenever it comes.

This can be viewed as an unconventional self-improvement book. If everyone followed Olga's daily regimen, certainly there would be many more nonagenarians among us.

Using the story of a 90-year old athlete (narrated with a devotional/affectionate tone) as a powerful context, Grierson provides an excellent discussion on various topics related to aging and perseverance.

A narration that starts off as a biographical investigation quickly provides an excellent cover to discuss "adversity hypothesis" and how resilience in learnt. Some of the core concepts in this chapter are expanded in the more theoretical The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease. The author then builds on the topic of physical resilience to introduce neuroplasticity, the role of exercise in mind performance, and the power of any exercise. The discussion of the types of experiments conducted to assess such hypotheses in itself is a worthy read. (In fact, the discussion is so lucid, it may even force a committed couch potato to amp up their activity levels).

The chapter on the role of evolution in fitness (its ten dimensions) and the framing of "endurance v/s performance" is probably the best-written. It provides a reader not only an excellent context to think about how our views of exercise and use of body, in general - has changed and challenges to think what activity types should be encouraged.

Of course, any discussion on seniors/aging, will be incomplete without addressing "nature v/s nurture". Grierson provides a realistic assessment of where genomics is in terms of able to understand aging.

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