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Running with the
Champ
by Tim Shanahan (with Chuck Crisafulli)
c.2016, Simon & Schuster
$27.00 / $36.00 Canada
307 pages
By Terri Shlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Two heads are better than one.
Another body can make work lighter, both in mood and in
task. A partner can support you, encourage you, inspire you,
and sympathize with you. You solve easier with another mind
on the problem. Yes, two heads are better than one, and in
the new book Running with the Champ by Tim
Shanahan (with Chuck Crisafulli), so are four feet.
People who knew Muhammad Ali probably wouldn’t be surprised
that he met Tim Shanahan in 1970 because of a charity event.
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Shanahan was working with a Chicago organization, and needed
big-name sports heroes to “deliver a motivational speech to
the students.” His connections led to Ali, who invited
Shanahan into his home and his life. They were friends
almost instantly; days later, they became regular running
partners.
It was a rather informal situation, says Shanahan: they ran
when they could, near a park in Chicago. This was after
Ali’s three-year boxing suspension, and both knew that the
Champ needed encouragement; Shanahan, the better runner,
gave it to him. The unlikely friendship began to take
deepen: the black Muslim athlete who came from the wrong
side of the Louisville tracks and the Catholic white guy
born in Wisconsin would lie in the grass after their run,
discussing their childhoods, favorite things, dreams, and
life in general.
Being Ali’s friend was a wild ride through the years.
The Champ was often abrupt with his demands, both to
Shanahan and to others; he didn’t suffer fools gladly and
expected his wishes to be quickly granted. He was generous,
monetarily and time-wise, with nearly everyone he saw,
giving away a good portion of his income (and, supposedly,
some of Shanahan’s, too). Ali loved meeting celebrities,
hated unsolicited advice, could be stubborn (especially in
his career), and had a surprising jealous streak, but he was
funny and larger-than-life. Then, around the time Ali
retired, things changed: he started uncharacteristically
losing his patience with many in his inner circle –
including Shanahan.
In 1984, a diagnosis of “parkinsonism” explained everything…
In many such memoirs based on celebrity, you’ll often find a
distracting amount of name-dropping and braggadocio. You
might even expect that in a memoir about Muhammad
Ali, but the surprise is that author Tim Shanahan (with
Chuck Crisafulli) doesn’t focus on that alone. Instead,
Running with the Champ is a loving tribute to a
friendship.
And yet – as in so many relationships between famous and
not-famous, there were the not-so-good-times, and Shanahan
includes those among his stories. Here, we see a big-hearted
athlete in action, and sometimes struggling. We also get a
heartbreaking glimpse of Ali and his determination to hang
on to the shreds of a career that was done.
For fans who’ve read everything they can on Ali’s fights,
this is a look from a different angle at the man himself,
from a fan-turned-friend who may’ve never really known Ali
at all. If you need a book about The Greatest, then,
Running with The Champ may be one of the better ones. |
