Hope Fights Back: Fifty Marathons and a Life or Death Race Against ALS by Amanda Lytle Peet and Meredith Atwood.

Against my strong Type A sensibilities, I’m going out of order with these books. The thing is, I finished this one and it was so good I just don’t want to forget it, so I’m jumping the line and posting it now. Last year I caught an interview with Amanda Lytle Peet and immediately added her memoir to my TBR (to be read) list. When it came available via audiobook, I snagged it right away and finished it within a matter of days.

Amanda’s story is one of incredible grace, courage, tenacity, and even humor. *After* she found out she had ALS, she set out to complete 50 marathons, one in each state. She cannot run due to the ALS, but she is still able to ride a recumbent trike, and she lobbied with race directors for permission to participate in all these races. Even on wheels, she was still only moving at a “back of the pack” pace like 13 minutes per mile, so that didn’t seem to be an issue for most race directors.

Even though Peet and I are living entirely different lives, I felt like her story held so many parallels to mine. She had to give up a successful career as her ALS was quickly progressing. She has a husband who takes care of her but does not coddle, and is walking with her in this journey arm in arm. She continues to push her limits and squeeze the most she can out of life. She does not wallow in pity at her circumstances. She’s become one of my heroes.

She had help writing the book (by co-author Meredith Atwood) but I don’t think that detracted from her voice shining through. I loved her sense of humor and snarky and stubborn attitude. In the bonus material she stated that in order to know what she thinks about something, she has to write it down, and that is me 100%. Same here, same. I think if we lived near each other, we would be great friends. I learned a lot about the ins and outs of her experience with ALS, and was encouraged and inspired in my own life to keep moving and challenging myself to fight against my own struggles with MS. It was a great book to read, and I rated it 5 out of 5 on Goodreads. I would purchase and reread this book without hesitation. Go check it out!!