{"id":6742,"date":"2026-07-07T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6742"},"modified":"2026-07-07T11:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:10:09","slug":"hard-things-by-marc-hopkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6742","title":{"rendered":"Hard Things by Marc Hopkins"},"content":{"rendered":"

While preparing for one of the most punishing races in America, an ultrarunner discovers that endurance alone cannot outrun shame and the need to feel worthy.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Detailing his preparation for the brutal Bigfoot 200 ultramarathon race that\u2019s over two hundred miles through the unforgiving terrain of the Pacific Northwest, Marc Hopkins sheds the emotional weight he has carried for years in his reflective memoir Hard Things<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As he keeps training despite injuries and anxiety-induced self-doubt, even as memories of childhood abandonment, divorce, health scares, and even strained relationships painfully rise to the surface, he is forced to confront truths he has spent much of his life trying to outrun. Clearly, this book is about so much more than athletic triumph.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Often harrowing physical details expose the extremity of this race, as Hopkins vividly links endurance culture to emotional repression. Indeed, he is particularly good at drawing attention to often overlooked, quieter forms of insecurity. Very early in the book, he admits to having built much of his identity around being able to \u201cendure anything.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Readers also get to see what this mindset has cost him over the years, as he doesn\u2019t try to hide things. Some of the most revealing and stirring moments occur in smaller admissions that many readers will recognize in themselves, not even in the dramatic medical emergencies or the brutal mountain climbs, as would\u2019ve been expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one instance, he reflects on routinely surrendering the restaurant seat he wants because advocating for himself feels uncomfortable. While in another, he quietly removes a painting he likes after his partner dismisses it as ugly. What makes these moments painfully moving is how they reveal how deeply he allowed his fear of becoming difficult or burdensome govern his behavior. These moments are emotionally raw and powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hopkins\u2019 descriptions of the Pacific Northwest after long stretches of emotional heaviness, with recovering wildfire forests and rain-soaked trails, is refreshing.<\/p>\n

There are, however, times when these introspections become a bit repetitive. Such as when Hopkins keeps going over the same fears surrounding failure and inadequacy so frequently that certain middle parts of the book begin to cause it to drag. Arguably, this repetition reflects the obsessive mental loops common in endurance sports and successfully plants readers in his mental and emotional struggles. But some readers may wish for a tighter emotional flow and find this cyclic process a bit tiring. Also, a few supporting figures, particularly his partner Jenni, don\u2019t quite feel fully developed, as the narrative remains so firmly inside Hopkins\u2019 perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout, he shows that personal growth isn\u2019t always neat or inspirational in a conventional sense. Sometimes it\u2019s awkward and can even feel like a reluctant struggle. Hopkins ensures ultrarunning is far from romanticized by describing aid stations, taped feet, hallucinations, sleep deprivation, and endless climbs with a matter-of-fact exhaustion that makes the race feel fully immersive. Even the environment mirrors his mental state. The forests are sometimes described with awe and reverence, while other times, the trails feel isolating and punishing, swallowing runners into silence and doubt. Yes, ultrarunning produces a lot of inspiring stories, but Hopkins also effectively captures its more unsettling side.<\/p>\n

Ultimately less concerned with whether a man can survive a 200-mile race than with why he believes he has to prove himself through suffering in the first place, Marc Hopkins\u2019 Hard Things<\/em> is part endurance memoir and part emotional reckoning.<\/p>\n

The post Hard Things by Marc Hopkins<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While preparing for one of the most punishing races in America, an ultrarunner discovers that endurance alone cannot outrun shame and the need to feel worthy. Detailing his preparation for the brutal Bigfoot 200 ultramarathon race that\u2019s over two hundred miles through the unforgiving terrain of the Pacific Northwest, Marc Hopkins sheds the emotional weight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6742\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}