Edward H. Ayres (born October 1941) is an American writer, editor, environmentalist and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

runner. He is the founding editor and publisher of ''

Running Times Rodale, Inc. (), was an American publisher of health and wellness magazines, books, and digital properties headquartered in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, with a satellite office in New York City. The company was founded in 1930. In 2017, it was acquired ...

'' magazine, and he served as editorial director of the

Worldwatch Institute The Worldwatch Institute was a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Lester R. Brown. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan S ...

and editor of ''Worldwatch'', a bimonthly global-trends

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. David M. Shribman states that Ayres has "inspired athletes worldwide and reshaped our ideas about endurance and sustainability". Ayres grew up in the New Jersey towns of

Berkeley Heights Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, Berkeley Heights is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area, nestled within the Rar ...

and Westfield. He graduated from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in 1963 and briefly was a teacher at

George School George School is a private Quaker (Society of Friends) boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania ( Newtown postal address). It has been at that site since its founding in 1893, an ...

. He enjoys making furniture and sculptures out of

geode A geode (; ) is a geology, geological secondary formation within sedimentary rock, sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crys ...

petrified wood Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

, and glass bottles. He placed third in the first

New York Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fin ...

in 1970, and won the 1977

JFK 50 Mile The JFK 50 Mile or the JFK 50 Mile Memorial is an ultramarathon that takes place annually in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The first race was held on 30 March 1963, one of numerous races that year. After the Kennedy assassination, ...

. In 1999, Ayres wrote ''God's Last Offer: Negotiating for a Sustainable Future'' in which he discusses four trends which he says threaten society: global warming caused by carbon dioxide, mass extinctions, a surge of consumption, and a population explosion. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' stated that "Ayres dismantles the perceptual obstructions that block our awareness of a crisis" but that he "comes up short in offering specific solutions" while

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...

said that the book "presents a blueprint for a radical shift of policies and priorities to avoid a cataclysm". In 2010, he was co-author of ''Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil-Fuel Dependence to a Clean Energy Future'' (Prentice Hall).

called his book ''The Longest Race'' (2012), an autobiography covering his attempt to run a 50-mile ultramarathon at age 60, an "urgent exploration of the connection between individual endurance and a sustainable society". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' said that his " broad-ranging interests and accumulated wisdom will appeal to a wide readership, not just runners and environmentalists". Ayres is a paleo-

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

who shopped at, and invested in,

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...

when the stock was still trading for well under $15/share. Ayres is married and has a daughter.

Selected bibliography

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References

External links

edayres.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Ed Living people American environmentalists American magazine editors American non-fiction environmental writers American sculptors American male ultramarathon runners 1941 births 20th-century American sportsmen