Race Across America

Charles B. Kastner is a long-distance runner and the author of The 1929 Bunion Derby: Johnny Salo and the Great Footrace across America.

Life, it's said, is a marathon. But Charles Kastner shows us in vivid, historical detail that the life of runner Eddie Gardner was unique—a race that serves as an engrossing example of what it means to be resilient. This powerful book has the potential of placing long distance running in its rightful place center stage in the history and struggle of the African-American athlete. . . . A must read for readers interested in sport history. Charles Kastner spotlights the heroics of a previously unappreciated athlete in Eddie Gardner, who participated in a bizarre sporting event many years ago that few people remember. I applaud his efforts to give the Bunion Derbies their due as a quintessential American footrace. Kastner brilliantly delves into the phenomenon of transcontinental racing and the heroics of Eddie Gardner, an athlete on par with Jesse Owens and Joe Louis who combated Jim Crow laws while competing as a black person in a super-human challenge across America. I felt like I was right there beside him the whole way, a truly epic book! Race Across America captures the magnitude of challenges faced by Eddie Gardner as he competed in the greatest race on earth: desert heat, hours of mental and physical strain, endless mountains, intense rain, and racial barriers; and the winning spirit it took for him to reach the finish line. Chuck Kastner masterfully brings to light the story of Eddie Gardner, the first great African American Ultramarathon runner of the 20th Century and in doing so, provides a powerful lesson in American and Civil Rights history. A fascinating look at the birth of transcontinental ultra-running, the courageous men who competed more than 90 years ago, and African American Eddie 'The Sheik' Gardner who ultimately endured the most.