Running With The Champ

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. 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, and Shanahan, the better runner, gave it to him. The unlikely friendship began to deepen – the black Muslim athlete who came from the wrong side of the Louisville tracks and the Catholic white guy born in Wisconsin would lay in the grass after their runs, 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, but he was also generous – monetarily and otherwise – 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, and had a surprising jealous streak, but he was funny and larger-than-life. Then, around the time Ali retired, things changed: he started 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 this author 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. If you need a book about The Greatest, then “Running with The Champ” may be one of the better ones.