Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard: A Memoir by Ken Rideout

 

Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard: A Memoir by Ken Rideout is one of the best memoirs I have read this year. I sat down to page through the book and ended up reading all of the book after dinner one night. I was absolutely engrossed in the story.

Ken shares about the challenges of his early life, his addiction, his time as a Wall Street Trader, healing, and his amazing story of running and being the fastest 50+ runner in the world. For me at the heart of the story is a man who was willing to change and transform to not let his past define his future. I was very inspired by Everything You Want Is on the Other Side of Hard by Ken Rideout and highly recommend. This will be a book I will not forget and a favorite of 2026!

I was gifted a copy and not required to write a positive review.

Ken Rideout is the fastest marathoner in the world over fifty and a former prison guard, Wall Street trader, and opioid addict. His life story has been chronicled in such publications as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Outside. Since getting sober more than a decade ago, he has won some of the world's toughest races, including, at age fifty-two, the Gobi March—a 155-mile, self-supported race across the sweltering Gobi Desert in Mongolia—and a few months later, the Masters (50+) Marathon World Championships.

In addition to his many running victories, he has completed more than ten Ironman triathlons. In 2018, Ken founded capital solutions firm Camrock Advisors. More recently, he founded talent agency Rideout Sports and Entertainment.

He lives in Nashville with his wife, Shelby, and their four children.