Chapter 2: Run Like Mad

At the beginning of this chapter, the author tells the story of another incident when Louie was in trouble. He snuck into his high school, Torrance High, and let other high schoolers into a basketball game. Pete thought that maybe a sport would help Louie. Louie took up track. Pete became a sort of coach for Louie, pushing him to become great. Louie soon could not take all of the things that were happening to him so fast. He and his friend ran away, sleeping in cars, climbing on trains, and running through forests and orchards. He finally returned home, where his family joyfully greeted him. He then devoted his life to running. He ran his paper route and gave up drinking and smoking, which he started at a very young age.  Louie's role model was a runner named Glenn Cunningham, who recovered from bad injuries to become one of America's greatest milers. As Louie's career developed, Pete decided that he should become a miler. He became a local legend, running a four minute, forty- two second mile! He even won a UCLA race by fifty yards!