C H A S I N G E X T R E M E
About the book
Australians love a hero, especially a gutsy sporting hero. Luke Tyburski was a boy from the bush who dreamt of playing soccer on the world stage. On the pitch he was consistently good, but never the star player. What Luke had was a fierce will to succeed, he simply refused to give up on his dream. He had his first break at the age of 15 and by 21 was playing internationally, but his professional career was short lived. He struggled with injury and was repeatedly sidelined. In the end he had no choice but to hang up his boots.
Chasing Extreme is the story of what happened next. Living on his own in London, Luke reinvented himself as an adventurer – at the extreme end of the scale. His initial goal was to run an ultra marathon through the desert, an event considered the toughest footrace on earth. To get to the start line, Luke had to rebuild his broken body and retrain his mind to deal with the suffering of endurance sport. It was the first of many extreme quests on his ‘to do’ list. Along the way though, the events of life proved overwhelming and he spiralled into depression.
Luke tells his remarkable story with the help of writer Jane O’Connell, taking the reader on a journey of extreme adventures in some of the most punishing conditions imaginable. The book has many takeaway benefits for readers with details of Luke’s training schedules, his favourite running trails, how he created his mental framework, and what sort of food fuels an endurance athlete.
Chasing Extreme will appeal to adventurers, athletes, armchair athletes, and people whose lives are affected by anxiety and depression. Readers will be inspired and humbled as Luke shares with raw honesty his toughest battle of all, the one inside his head.
‘Unbelievable!’ (Olympic triathlete Stuart Hayes)
‘Relatable, everyman guys like Luke demonstrate that big dreams are possible and accessible for all.’ (Ultra-athlete, author and podcaster Rich Roll)
‘Massively inspiring … it shows you that mental strength can take you a long way.’ (Two-time Olympic triathlete Michelle Dillon)
Chasing Extreme was represented by Jane Novak Literary Agency in Australia and Legacy Management in the US and was published independently in London in 2018.
