The first two hundred pages were incredibly slow, and I love the in depth history treatments of sports. A similar book is The Perfect Mile about Roger Bannister, Wes Santee, and John Landy chasing the 4 minute mile. I never finished that one either, but got through most of it. These books kind of follow the same line -- overcoming hardships in formative years in great depression, single minded goal and mental toughness to reach it, incredible suffering, deliverance. Seabiscuit, another Hillenbrand book, is similar. Cinderella Man used the same formula to make a really good movie.