A Study of Running and Declaration of Love
The Vienna City Marathon announces the publication, shortly before its 33rd edition on April 10, of an illustrated book entitled "Theatre of Emotions", chronicling the passion which running evokes. The book has been produced in conjunction with the publisher SportImPuls.
The subject is what running really means at its core. Its primitive self. The myth. The fascination it exerts to the millionth degree. And above all the inner workings, the uniquely personal "Theatre of Emotions" which is inherent to every runner. The Vienna City Marathon and the publisher SportImPuls present in the book "Theatre of Emotions" an analysis and declaration of love about marathon running. The book is in large format, visually striking and strong in content.
Experiences of runners, recognition of the deep psychological and evolutionary history, quotes from literature and drama as well as eye-catching photos describe a panorama of running unprecedented in sports literature. Anyone who turns the first page of the 30 x 30 cm hard cover edition will breath desire, freedom and the spirit of the marathon.
The marathon is portrayed in all its many dimensions. As a means of motion from primeval times, a 2,500 year myth, a sports event since 1896, the first Olympic year of the modern era. It combines a unique history, deep physical and psychological effects and a dramatic competitive sport. "it is a great machine for transformation. One of the strongest and most effective there is. It changes everyone who is open to change. You only have to run it," is one of the quotes it contains.
The marathon, as it moves through the streets, is portrayed as theatre: the runners are the actors, the city the stage, the fans along the course are the audience. A central element is the "Drama" which the marathon has in store, with emotional passages which are at the heart of the running experience. Uncertainty before the start, self-confidence at the beginning, crisis and desperation in mid-race, passion to keep going, euphoria and redemption at the finish. The decisive point is the liberation from crisis which cannot succeed without support from outside, from spectators, music and atmosphere.
The team behind the book - Wolfgang Konrad, the man with the original idea and VCM organizer, publisher Johannes Langer, graphic illustrator Christoph Lepka and author Andreas Maier - have brought their passion and running experience to life in permanent form. What the book does not offer are the usual tips, available from so many sources these days, about training plans, times and courses. The four acts of the book, framed by a prologue and an epilogue, have instead the aim of telling the history of the marathon in a new way and expressing this year’s theme for the VCM of the "Theatre of Emotions". The book sets at its core what makes for the fascination of the marathon and what drives people from all over the world to stand on the start line, that is, emotions.
The Book
Vienna City Marathon (Hg.): Theatre of Emotions
Publisher SportImPuls, Wien-Salzburg 2016
Hardcover, 30 x 30 cm
98 pages, numerous illustrations, full text in both German and English
ISBN 978-3-200-04512-5
Cost € 29,90
On sale at the VCM Expo Vienna Sports World (Messe Wien, Halle D, 8.+9. April 2016, from 10:00 to 19:00, at Vienna-Marathon.com, from the publisher and in bookshops.
For more information please visit: Vie4nna-Marathon.com.
Haile Gebrselassie running in Vienna The image is one of many impressive photos in the book. Credit: www.photorun.net
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