Every Runner’s Inner Thoughts, Finally on Paper
Running sounds simple until you actually do it. Fun Run by Donald Froelich gets that immediately. This is a comic cartoon book built for runners and runner-adjacent people who know the joy, pain, and awkward moments that come with putting one foot in front of the other. There is no overarching storyline here. Each page delivers a single-panel joke, complete on its own, like a quick laugh you steal mid-run.
What makes this book stand out in the humor and sports cartoon genre is how painfully accurate it is. These cartoons do not exaggerate running culture. They mirror it. From track workouts to marathons, from treadmills to spectators who say the wrong thing at the wrong time, Fun Run captures the shared experience of runners everywhere. You don’t need to be elite. You just need to have run once and regretted it five minutes later.
What do you mean you hit the wall? We haven’t even reached the starting line yet!
Fun Run, page 12
Where Running Meets Relatable Humor
This book quietly delivers a powerful message. Running is hard, confusing, and sometimes ridiculous, and that is okay. Fun Run reminds readers that struggling does not mean failing. It means you are doing it right. The humor takes the pressure off and replaces it with recognition and laughter.
There are no named characters, but runners themselves take center stage. Each cartoon represents a type we all know. The overconfident starter, the injured optimist, the runner negotiating with their own legs. These roles create instant connection without needing dialogue-heavy scenes or long explanations.
The impact of the book comes from its simplicity. Froelich understands that runners do not need motivation speeches. They need honesty. One good laugh can do more than a training plan when morale is low.
Meet the Cartoonist
Donald Froelich always loved to run. He was the fastest kid in his kindergarten class and, to date, has never been beaten by a kindergartener. In school and during his time in the US Army, he competed as a track sprinter in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dashes, along with their related relays. Back in civilian life, his running expanded into cross-country and road racing, covering everything from two-mile events to full 26.3-mile marathons.
Running was only half the story. Froelich also always loved to draw. Decades ago, when comic cartoons filled magazine pages, he regularly sold his gags to publications. Running magazines, however, were the odd ones out. No cartoons. With a growing collection of unpublished running humor, Froelich decided it was time to bring them together. Fun Run exists because runners do have a sense of humor, and someone finally put it on paper.
Why This Book Belongs on Your Shelf
If you run, jog, race, spectate, or simply enjoy smart humor that doesn’t try too hard, Fun Run by Donald Froelich is an easy win. It’s the kind of book you flip through before a run or after a bad one and feel instantly understood.
Fun Run
Laugh first, then lace up and run anyway.