Spirit Run: a 6000 Mile Run Through North America's Stolen Land by Noe Alvarez

Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Landscape of Loss and Love by Noé Álvarez is a memoir that combines personal reflection, cultural history, and the power of endurance running. In the book, Álvarez recounts his 6,000-mile journey across North America as he runs to honor his indigenous roots and confront personal and societal struggles.

Álvarez, a Mexican-American from a working-class family, decides to leave behind his life in Oregon to participate in the Native American Rights Fund's marathon relay to raise awareness of indigenous issues. As he runs from the border of Canada to Mexico, Álvarez retraces ancient indigenous migration routes and reflects on the historical, cultural, and emotional significance of the land, the people, and his heritage.

The book seeks to incorporate Álvarez’s spiritual journey with his experience as a long-distance runner, with insights into indigenous identity, community, and environmental connection. His marathon is not just a physical test but a spiritual one, as he contemplates his family’s history, and his struggle to reconcile his indigenous roots with his life in contemporary America. Or, at least that's what the author hoped to accomplish.

Overall, the book rated lower than expected for the group. One chief complaint was that there was little information discussing the actual run itself. The descriptive details on nearly everything and everyone were vague, leading the reader to feel detached during the journey. There was more (but still quite little) focus on Noé's inner journey rather than external journey, as he was emotionally (and physically) underprepared for the feat that he had to undertake.

We were surprised that, within the running group, there were cliques and bullies. The run was hostile and abusive, putting the runners at risk seemingly on purpose via the withholding of food and water. This run sounded admirable on paper, but, in reality, it was physically and mentally unhealthy. The author quit the run before reaching the end due to the bullying which was unfortunate and disappointing.

We appreciated that beginning of the book highlighted the struggles of being an immigrant working in factories, particularly as it affected the author's own family. Unfortunately, however, there were no discussions of stolen land or any background on the Native Americans that live/lived there. Noé only briefly touched on being Native American, an identity that he possibly didn't even align with. Much of his identity discussed in the book was about being Latino rather than Indigenous, and this may have led to feelings of not belonging with the other group members. As a whole, the book and its proclaimed contents were misleading. After all, the subtitle "A 6,000-mile run through North America's Stolen Land" alluded to discussions of Native American displacement by the U.S. government, but this never came to fruition.

Group mean rating: 6.2/10