Despite believing he was bionic as a child, Ira Rainey was far from an elite athlete with superhuman running abilities like the ones he read about in books. He was in fact an overweight and unfit slacker who felt a bit sorry for himself because he had sore feet. Sure he ran a bit, but he also sat around a lot and ate and drank too much. Why? Because he could, and because he was a delusional optimist who thought everything would always be just fine. That was until a friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given months to live. It was an event that would push Ira to tackle his apathy towards life and take on the challenge of becoming an ultramarathon runner, pushing himself to go further than he had ever gone before. Award winning, Fat Man to Green Man: From Unfit to Ultramarathon is a warm and humorous account of one man's quest to uncover his true super powers as he journeys from fat to fit, and taking in everything that came between the two. It is a story of fields and friendships; mud and maps; but more importantly learning how to push yourself to achieve what you would never believe you could - and how to deal with the consequences.
Fat Man to Green Man is shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards 2014 (Best New Writer) and won the silver award for running books in The 2014 Running Awards, an award voted for by runners.