C. C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race

The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America

By: Geoff Williams

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Audie Award Finalist, History, 2014

Among the runners of C. C. Pyle's First Annual International Transcontinental Foot Race were an assortment of underdogs, including 20-year-old Oklahoman and part Cherokee Andy Payne, who wanted to win over the girl of his dreams and pay off the mortgage on his family's farm; Paul "Hardrock" Simpson, who was in over his head but couldn't let down his North Carolina hometown; Mike Kelly, a luckless boxer from Indiana; Seattle's Ed Gardner, one of four black runners who encountered bigotry; Charles Hart, a 63-year-old Englishman hoping his best days weren't behind him; and Frank Johnson, a middle-aged husband, father, and steelworker from St. Louis who broke away from his humdrum life and dared to do something different.

Newspaper and magazine journalist Geoff Williams details this historic event and the colorful cast of characters involved, based on firsthand accounts of those who were there and interviews from many living descendants. C. C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race is a classic American story so astonishing and surreal that you have to hear it to believe it.

©2007, 2013 Geoff Williams (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A breezy, entertaining read that properly balances the runners' integrity with the comedy of errors that was Pyle's grand experiment and his life." ( Publishers Weekly)

Good summer read

This is an interesting story and worthy of a relaxing day at the beach. I give it four stars.
The characters are quirky and different. The problem is the story becomes a bit tedious in that the same patterns evolve as the race goes on. Day by day the names change but the same things occur and this makes for predictable outcomes. This is light history and light reading but that is what you want for a summer read.

Great listen for distance runners

As a long distance runner, I was fascinated by the story of CC Pyle and this race! I loved listening to the daily grind and triumph of the runners!

Good narrator

Obscure history and heroism. Tough athletes doing a near impossible task without the footwear, nutrition and rest that today’s athletes might have

rollicking story of a very long foot race

Close up look at the hilarity as well as the blood, sweat and tears of this 1928 foot race across America. You'll get to know the many personalities in the race, including the runners and the promoter. A fun listen!

An insane story of human greed & willpower

An entertaining read, the narrator does the story great justice in his retelling of the absolute madness people subjected themselves to in their pursuit of fame and fortune in the midst of the endurance craze happening during the roaring 20s.