Lopez Lomong's Memoir, "Running for My Life: An Incredible Journey from War-Torn Sudan to Olympic Gold"

Regina B.: I didn't want to put the book down. It had me after the second page.

United States on Oct 16, 2023

R. Lindsey: Such an eye opener to the horrors we humans can put others through; compounded when done to children. The impact of faith, a good attitude, and the importance of family (whether a group of young peers or traditional) made a champion of life.

United States on Jun 05, 2023

JILL KENNEDY: I purchased this book originally thinking it would educate me about who and why Lost Boys being a history buff and major in college. I did not know this particular young man became world class track star and now head of a foundation to bring a better life to South Sudan. Not what I anticipated but still very compelling and worth reading.

United States on Oct 21, 2022

mag: Inspiring story of determination and perseverance. Highly recommend to boys and girls out there

United Kingdom on Oct 19, 2020

Katie: This book and all the colourful expansions and graphic details cited has been masterfully woven together into an epic testimony.!!

Canada on Jul 29, 2020

MS10: As a regular half marathon runner and my birth place being Ethiopia, I could feel the emotions and relate the true story quite well. We have many similar stories in our own country India where people have to struggle for basic needs.

India on Sep 08, 2019

Leah: This biography was an awesome read from start to finish, which did not take long as I could not put it down! Lopez is a beautiful person who suffered much but always took the positive from it and was grateful for everything he was given, however small it may seem to us. His journey from Sudan to his life in America when he was given a chance at a new life with a beautiful family was sad but happy as well. He was a credit to his family, tried so hard at everything and excelled at many things. Beautiful manners and a lovable nature and example to others. Well written so that it drew the reader in; unlike my review! A must read.

Australia on Dec 05, 2014

Barbara S. Reeves: It's been a long time since I've read a memoir that choked me up like "Running for My Life" by Lopez Lomong. When he was six, Lomong was ripped from his mother's arms by rebel soldiers in South Sudan. He was held in captivity in harsh conditions until he could be trained as a child soldier. But he and his "three angels" escaped, ran for three days, and ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya, where he lived for the next ten years.

The conditions in the camp left much to be desired and was only one step above the imprisonment he escaped from. Lomong's favorite past-time while in the camp was soccer, but there were so many boys wanting to play, they decided that they had to run one lap around the camp first. The lap was eighteen miles.

He was finally given the chance to emigrate to America. All he had to do was write an essay - in English. He only spoke Swahili and the only school lessons he had were scribbled in the dirt with his finger. But as with all the roadblocks he faced in life, he overcame this one too.

To make a long story short, he made it to the U.S., graduated from high school on time, ran track in college, and made it to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing....

United States on Dec 27, 2012

Uwe Fleischer: Wer jemals nachempfinden möchte was ein sechsjähriger Junge durchlebt wenn er gewaltsam aus den Armen seiner Mutter gerissen wird, der sollte dieses Buch lesen. Wer jemals wissen möchte was es bedeutet "um sein Leben zu rennen" (Buchtitel), der darf sich ergreifen lassen von dem authentischen Bericht diese Mannes. Mich wundert es nicht dass die Biographie dieses Menschen schon bekannt war, eh er je an einer Olympiade teilgenommen hat. Normalerweise lese ich solche Horrorberichte äußerst ungern, schon weil ich beruflich genug davon erfahre. Aber manchmal wird man zu einem Buch hingeführt und ich habe es hier nicht bereut.

Germany on Nov 07, 2012

Kim Burdick: .
Best release of 2012.

Just as we begin to feel discouraged about the direction in which America is heading a strong young voice, a voice of experience, is telling us very clearly that the American Dream is NOT dead.

Every American should read this autobiography by Lopez Lomong, a Lost Boy of Sudan, who dreamed of becoming an Olympic runner for the United States.

Six year old Lopepe (born in 1985) was part of a large group of children rounded up and kidnapped by Sudanese rebel solders in 1991.

The little boy was taken under the wings of three bigger boys who helped him escape, running in the wrong direction for home. Eventually the children crossed the border into Kenya, where they were put in a refugee camp. The bigger boys, whom Lopez calls "angels," vanished and were never seen by him again.

In the Kenyan refugee camp, work, running and soccer helped fill ten long years.

Food was limited and there were no school supplies. Lopez received the rudiments of education with teachers offering lectures and children writing answers in the dirt, using sticks as writing implements.

In the year 2000 Lopez and several other boys crept out...

United States on Jul 08, 2012