An accidental athlete: a funny thing happened on the way to middle age

Known by fans as "The Penguin" for his back-of-the-pack speed, John Bingham is the unlikely hero of the modern running boom.

In his new book, the best-selling author and magazine columnist recalls his childhood dreams of athletic glory, sedentary years of unhealthy excess, and a life-changing transformation from couch potato to "adult-onset athlete."Overweight, uninspired, and saddled with a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking habit, Bingham found himself firmly wedged into a middle-age slump.

Then two frightening trips to the emergency room and a conversation with a happy piano tuner led him to discover running-and changed his life for the better.

Inspiring, poignant, hilarious, and heartbreaking, An Accidental Athlete is a warm and engaging book for the everyday athlete.

Bingham tells stories of the joys of running-the pride of the finisher's medal, a bureau-busting t-shirt collection, intense back-of-the-pack strategizing.

An Accidental Athlete is about one man's discovery that middle age was not the finish line after all, but only the beginning.