Dandelion Growing Wild: A triumphant journey over astounding odds by American marathon champion Kim Jones

Kim Jones arrived for her interview at a Boulder Mexican restaurant sometime in the early 90s. She was wearing a white pleated skirt unable to draw anyone’s eyes from her girl-next-door natural blonde locks, or lithe and lankly frame with legs many women would die for. She was circumspect, and why wouldn’t she be.Not learned during that interview, dysfunctional family encounters for much of her life sparred with an amazing running odyssey for center stage. A roller-coaster mélange of characters painstakingly blossoms into long-distance excitement during her heartfelt autobiography, Dandelion Growing Wild. The revelatory 457 pages were published in 2012, well after her spikes and worn-down Nike racers and trainers rested on the front porch or were tossed in the back of a closet. Her poignant tale has an unparalleled marathoning and road-racing career merely a tapestry backdrop to a triptych diorama of marriages and the relations who continue to play quirky parts in her dramatic journey.The tale is heavy going, with early hard times, high-school pregnancy and a birth, periodic deaths, bizarre behavior and jail time for certain relatives, injuries and accidents, and even a turned-under toe defying surgery but somehow against all odds becoming the racer’s edge. Jones makes her Kelly-Jones early marriages work for what they are, until they aren’t. Then it’s time to move on as if to another life-altering race. Change is good when bad has arrived. Like anyone of spectacular accomplishments, Jones takes in stride countless family travails, interspersed with running injuries and failures. Nothing really permanently inhibits ‘Kimmie,’ particularly the unrelenting nettling mental and physical dilemmas even soap operas would have difficulty portraying.All these hurdles are tempered by a persistent penchant for magical miles and contests in exotic locations. Whether it be the Honolulu Marathon or Lilac Bloomsday Run, Jones is ready. Thanks to her own determination and discipline coupled with coaching from Benji Durden, as well as the steadfast support of many kindly friends and accompanists, Jones has more (17) sub-2:33 marathons than any other woman in U.S. history. Yet her background tapestry of stellar dances with dashers, habitually mitigating familial contretemps and paying for an Oz-like lifestyle, is woven of dendrite silver thread. For it is silver not gold that Ms. Jones usually strikes. Second-place is her destiny at the end of most of her marathon efforts. Finally, however, three is a charm at the conclusion of her Port Townsend to Spokane to Boulder to Ft. Collins relocations. Jon Sinclair is her male equivalent as a running phenom, and gives the talented strider the ingredients missing from previous marital sojourns.Be prepared to read more about the challenges during a heroine’s attempt to make everyone around her proud and part of the voyage. Marathons and road races keep Kim Jones on her youthful mission, until the fates slowly endow her attempts at functional family life with eventual hard-earned success.

I thought this would be another running memoir, and I'd learn lessons applicable to my running. Boy was I wrong. This is all that and so much more. The hardship and adventures that Kim Jones went through read more like an adventure novel with twists and turns both exhilarating and at times a little bit scary. I have read a lot of books in my life, this might be one of the most moving, most profound books I have ever read. And, while I don't think I have learned so much about how to handle adversity and be resilient and persevere from any one book, it was truly an exciting read. I was holding my breath at points just waiting to see what would happen next. It's also one of the most generous books I have ever read, Kim Jones shares her at times traumatic past so that we might better learn how to manage and overcome whatever hardship we might face. I feel as though I have grown through reading this, and I will draw on the lessons learned for a very long time to come. If you have ever had a rough patch, this book will help you see that there is always a way through. No matter what life throws at you, you can come through the other side and be happy and fulfilled. This now has a firm place on my top 10 all time list. Get a copy for you, and one for your best friend, everyone should read this book.

Very well written, in many respects a very heartbreaking yet inspirational true story. I cried while reading this and smiled many times too. The author reveals the many hardships of her youth with true grace and gratitude. A very personal and revealing journey through life struggles and achievements, and ability to adapt in the face of many hardships while displaying amazing resilience. This star athlete now shows us that she is also a gifted writer. Kim reveals her resilient spirit, bares her soul of some growing pains and hard truths of her younger self growing up in small town USA back in the 60 & 70's. Back then, I did not know this was her family journey, and now I know just how amazing and resilient she was as a young lady, I believe every word of her story. In high school (which is my only reference) Kim was well-liked, a beautiful and sweet yet strong girl who was greatly admired by all of us for her athletic abilities, discipline, and tenacity to become as she did, a star athlete. I see now that running track was her friend and her support system. I have even more respect for this woman whom I knew and participated with in track growing up in our small town. All the best to you Kim, thank you for sharing your story, you are an inspiration to your home town and its people, we love you! Readers, this book will give you great inspiration to overcome even the most difficult of times. Believe in yourself, believe that the human spirit is stronger than anything else. Show yourself the love even if you are not receiving all that you need, you will get through whatever life challenges you face, give it your all, love and care for yourself as well as your people. Never give up on YOU!