Running to Glory is a celebration of grit, perseverance, and the American Dream. It follows the cross country team from Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Washington through a tumultuous and challenging season with excitement, suspense, and pathos. Despite enormous economic disadvantages, the Eisenhower runners compete with affluent schools in the Seattle-Tacoma area, where parent involvement is strong and funds are readily available.

Their coach Phil English knows how his runners feel. He grew up poor in rural Ireland in the 1960s during The Troubles and emigrated to the U.S. for a college track scholarship. Over 37 years coaching in Yakima, Coach English won 11 state titles and sent more than 100 kids to college with scholarships for running.

Sam McManis crafts a compelling narrative, which follows the team from summer workouts in the blistering sun to the state championship meet in the bitter cold. Readers will discover how these young men and women overcome their environment or succumb to it—on the course and in the classroom.

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Sam McManis has worked as a staff writer and columnist for California’s leading newspapers (the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee) for over three decades. Until May 2016, he was a lifestyle columnist and feature writer for the Sacramento Bee. His stories have been published in The New York Times and TheWall Street Journal. He has received numerous national journalism awards and has covered two Olympic Games, World Series, NBA Championship series and Super Bowls. In 2016, he received a “Best in the West” award for arts and entertainment writing and was named California’s “in-state” journalist of the year. He also teaches English and composition at Central Washington University. McManis has run 17 marathons— including the prestigious Boston Marathon twice – and completed 7 ultramarathons and countless races of shorter distances.