Chris Henley is a fun and energetic representative of Microsoft. He works on the Developer Platform Evangelist team at Microsoft as an IT Professional Evangelist in the western region and is the co-author of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Administration Instant Reference from Sybex press. Chris is a regular speaker and presenter at user groups, Technet events, and major conferences around the US.
He has extensive experience in the world of computer networks. He is passionate about the way that technology helps people. He has an entertaining and insightful style of communicating technical information and of making difficult concepts easy to understand. He is an expert in server architecture and network design. He loves to push the envelope of what we think about computers, and what software can do. Chris spends his spare time playing XBOX360 with his wife and kids, fly fishing, camping, hiking, and searching for the best chocolate cake on planet earth.
I was flying out of the Oakland Airport in April and I noticed a book on the shelf at one of the Kiosk Bookstores. It had a title that was nearly half a page long. I read it and I was hooked. I didn’t buy the book right then because I have an Audible Premium membership that I rely on for my reading (or rather listening.) I looked the book up on Audible (while I was still in the airport,) then downloaded it and synced it out to my Zune. I made a quick stop at Auntie Annes for a Pretzel with marinara sauce, and another quick stop at the ice cream store for a scoop of mint chocolate chip and a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough. I know that’s not the healthiest lunch but I needed fat and calories and that lunch has plenty of both. I settled down into one of Southwest airlines “comfortable” chairs and started the book. I listened for an hour while I waited for my flight. I listened for the 90 minutes on the plane. I was hooked. The story is fascinating.
Important side note. I don’t run! I play sports. Running to kick a ball, or running to catch a ball, or running to avoid being eaten by a bear, or running to fulfill some other associated task, those I do. Running just to run I don’t do.
I still loved this book! Mostly it is not a book about competitive running but instead a book about the origins, evolution, and practical limits of why we as a species run. I was impressed with the authors ability to carve a truly interesting story from a topic that I would personally consider just mildly interesting to begin with. Boy was I surprised!
I loved the authors use of several interwoven stories to build what for me turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. I would highly recommend the book to you. I will never think of running in the same way again. Not that I have taken up running as a hobby, but next time I am charging down a dirt path in the Uintah mountains with my shotgun at my side, or maybe just playing tag with my kids in the backyard I will smile at the tie that binds us to our past and to our future. Running.