A Medal with Mouse Ears

One Woman's Journey to Running the Walt Disney World Marathon

Non-Fiction - Inspirational
158 Pages
Reviewed on 09/06/2018
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Kimberlee J Benart for Readers' Favorite

A Medal with Mouse Ears: One Woman's Journey to Running the Walt Disney World Marathon is a memoir by nurse and mother Mary Townsend about her achievement of a long-held dream. Beginning with the personal and work-related stresses that led her to discover the joy of running in the first place and the sensation of freedom and being alive that it gave her, she details the emotional, spiritual, and physical challenges she had to overcome to finally complete the 26.2-mile race “on a bum knee at the age of 49.” It was the last time that she ran. Throughout the narrative Townsend shares how this journey changed her. “I learned,” she writes, “that behind my fears and doubts dwells the person I want to be.” Several photographs add to the reader’s appreciation of this inspirational story.

I enjoyed reading A Medal with Mouse Ears. Townsend writes in a flowing, understandable, and very detailed and descriptive style. Fans of running can readily relate to her experience, the physical pain she endured, and the challenge she faced in getting into marathon shape after a long hiatus from running and with a few extra pounds added on. But all readers can relate to the personal transformation which takes place in Townsend's heart and spirit. “Insecurity and doubt whispered in my ear often,” she confides. “I struggled through the physical and emotional rollercoaster of the marathon and came through a new person, a whole person, someone who had pushed herself to the very limit she could and survived... As long as love and the conviction of my dreams come from my heart, I am invincible.”