One Step Beyond is the record of Malcolm Law's ''7in7'' challenge to run seven of New Zealand's most famous wilderness tracks on seven successive days, motivation for this being the death of his older brother, Alan, from leukaemia when aged 12.
After a lifetime of grieving over ''unfinished business'' - Law's parents didn't allow him and his sisters to attend the funeral - Law saw his challenge as both a tribute to Alan, a means of exorcising 40 years of grief, and an opportunity to raise funds for a charity that supports blood cancer and leukaemia research.
Written in diary form, with chapters dealing with training and organising the event and each of the seven runs, it's both a text about the joys and pitfalls of distance running over variable terrain, and an opportunity to once again feature the amazing natural scenery that makes New Zealand a magnet for both local and overseas lovers of the outdoors.
Colour plates and detailed descriptions of the highs and lows of each track make One Step Beyond not just a book about athletes on the run. Having personally trained for and run a marathon at age 55, I cannot even imagine what a man of Law's age (49 at the time of the run) had to go through in order to achieve his remarkable feat of endurance.
Readers who join him and his team as they go ''one step beyond'' running the Waikaremoana Circuit, the Tongariro Northern Circuit, the Abel Tasman Coast Track, the Heaphy, Routeburn and Milford tracks and the Kepler Crossing can only marvel at the level of endurance and determination required to run these tracks on seven successive days.
- Ian Williams is a Dunedin writer and composer.
