This Is Not About Running: A Memoir

Professional runner Cain debuts with a raw account of her harrowing experiences at the once-esteemed Nike Oregon Project. When Cain was a middle schooler in Bronxville, N.Y., in the 2000s, her generational talent for middle-distance running became clear. At 16, she was recruited to train with coach Alberto Salazar at the Nike Oregon Project, a Portland-area initiative to cultivate America’s best runners. Yet Cain’s excitement soon soured: she recalls coaches saddling her with extreme weight-loss expectations (“As their gazes drifted over my legs and torso and arms, it felt like they were calculating some value in their head”) and Salazar sneaking into her room in the middle of the night on at least three occasions. The Oregon Project’s unlicensed sports psychologist routinely dismissed Cain’s concerns (“He’ll tell me not to be soft, tell me most kids would kill to be in my place”), even as her hair began falling out and she contemplated suicide. Capped by details of Salazar’s permanent ban from the sport in 2019 for doping violations and further accusations of sexual misconduct, Cain’s memoir grippingly charts her path from glory to disillusionment to despair and back. It’s a powerful and haunting testimonial. Agent: Lauren Sharp, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)