49 pages • 1 hour read
Christopher McDougallRunning with Sherman
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “Full Mooning”
McDougall relates the origins of Vella Shpringa, the Amish running club started by Amos King and his Mennonite training partners. Amos’s uncle hid his passion for playing baseball—which is banned after a certain age in the Amish community—and it prevented him from gaining the support of his community. Witnessing this, Amos, with the permission of the council of Mennonites, encourages his friend group to try running, and they are all hooked. Vella Shpringa is born and fostered by the community.
Full Moon Runs become popular. McDougall joins a few, enjoying the hospitable spirit of the Amish. These runs also evolve into a marathon, which becomes recognized as one of the most beautiful in the country. They donate the proceeds to the volunteer fire department who supported them in their early days. Amos marries, finding his place in the community by embracing his true self.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Matildonkey”
McDougall hosts a Full Moon Run at his farm, and he and Tanya take Sherman and Flower out for the run. Sherman and Flower are nervous at first, so McDougall and Tanya start early. Sherman enjoys the night and runs confidently. When the other runners catch up, they ask for turns running with Sherman. McDougall reluctantly agrees. The runners’ lifelong experience with animals and passion for running make for a smooth transition, and soon Sherman is running amidst a pack of runners.
When McDougall pauses, however, the “spell [is] broken” (143), and Sherman and Flower refuse to run any further. After observing this, Tanya arrives at the farm the next day with Matilda, a spunky mini-donkey whose confidence and fearlessness inspire Sherman and Flower. Sherman and Flower respond to Matilda’s natural lead, and McDougall and Tanya are amazed at how readily the donkeys follow Matilda, even when passing areas that had given them much trouble before. McDougall, Mika, and Tanya are all hopeful that they have had a breakthrough in Sherman’s training.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Gang of Three”
McDougall and Mika are unable to get in contact with Tanya for several days, so they travel to her property and find her in a state of distress. Her husband has left her with all the animals on the farm after committing infidelities, and Tanya does not know how she will meet all the work and financial responsibilities on her own. She requires time to sort things out, so is unable to help with Sherman’s training.
McDougall and Mika later attempt to take Sherman and Matilda out for a run, but Flower, when she realizes she is being left in the pen, loudly brays and kicks, distressing the other animals. Sherman and Matilda rush back to the farm as soon as possible. As winter moves in and McDougall and Mika are saddled with the chores of keeping up the farm, Sherman’s training is further and further neglected. McDougall worries that Sherman’s “chances of becoming an athlete” (156) are slipping away.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Sick, Stressed, or House Arrest”
McDougall receives a message from a local friend, Andrea Cook, whose son Zeke would like to speak to him about training. McDougall is worried for Zeke, who is home in the middle of a college semester. He recalls the young man’s struggle with depression in high school.
Zeke informs McDougall that he wants to get in shape and McDougall invites Zeke and his mother over to run with him and Sherman. With a full force of attendants now, McDougall and Mika are able to bring Sherman, Matilda, and Flower out for a run.
Zeke bonds with Sherman on the run, while McDougall notices that alternating Flower and Matilda ahead of the group always encourages the other donkeys to continue running rather than become embroiled in their own phobias.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
Much of this section is about the team growing around Sherman, and appropriately, Chapter 13 offers an extended meditation on the power of community building and The Therapeutic Aspect of Sport. This is reflected in the origins of Vella Shpringa, through Amos’s dedication to his training and his mission to include his friends in his passion. McDougall also uses the rock-solid community of the Amish to depict the importance of community in healing and in accepting oneself. The importance of accepting oneself is reflected in the story of Amos’s uncle who played baseball in secret, with the implication that repression leads to isolation and detachment. Amos’s story stands in contrast to his uncle’s, as someone who openly embraced his passions and found a community anyway. The chapter also humanizes the Amish community through the warmth and forgiveness they show one another and others, moving their representation in a positive direction after Chapter 12’s scrutiny of their culture.
Chapter 14 builds upon this theme, depicting two instances of running as fostering a community and creating space for self-fulfillment and healing. Sherman’s introduction to the wider running community is very similar to Amos’s experience, once more drawing parallels between human and animal experiences. The addition of Matilda at the end of the chapter provides Sherman with another animal mentor, while the introduction of Zeke Cook in Chapter 16 creates another important human-animal connection. Zeke has struggled with depression and is looking for a means to become healthier and happier; his commencement of running with Sherman reflects The Restorative Power of Connecting with Animals and introduces another important character arc into the memoir’s narrative.
Chapter 15 centers upon adversity and overcoming more unexpected obstacles. The loss of Tanya creates the first of three crucial junctures in Sherman’s training journey. McDougall emphasizes the helplessness of the situation with the run in which Flower is left, shrieking, at the farm. Sherman’s training starts to lag over the winter months, creating a moment of uncertainty as to whether or not the team will reach their goal. The established facts and exposition of the earlier chapters can now be left behind and, as the work reaches its mid-point, McDougall builds momentum by depicting a series of crises they must undergo before their eventual triumph or defeat in the burro race.
