Episode 80 is Available on Apple, Google, Spotify and most places podcasts are heard!
From the Podium to the Page: Dan Schlesinger on Injury, Art, and International Run Culture. A recap of my podcast conversation with artist, author, and former elite marathoner Dan Schlesinger
In my recent conversation with Dan Schlesinger, we covered an extraordinary range of experiences: elite marathon running, injury and recovery, a long quest for the Olympics, life and work in East Asia, and an unexpected artistic career that included illustrating the Japanese editions of the Harry Potter books, and ultimately led him to meeting his partner and supporting the cause "Freedom from Torture" through his writing and art.
Dan is a remarkably multidimensional guest. Before becoming a professional artist and illustrator, he trained and worked as a corporate lawyer for ten years. But it was not where he found his deepest sense of purpose. Over time, he followed his lifelong connection with art and developed a career as an oil painter and illustrator. His work has been exhibited internationally, including in galleries in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. His newest book endeavour, "Injury Blues and the Red Running Shoes" deals with the challenges of injury, recovery and the value of friendship, both written and beautifully illustrated by Dan Schlesinger, is a reflection of his own life experiences, and will be published by Whitefox Publishing on 19 October 2026. You can also explore his artwork here: https://www.
Dan is also widely known in Japan as the illustrator of the Japanese edition of the Harry Potter series. His illustrations reached a vast readership, with more than 22 million copies of the Japanese editions sold. His fluency in Japanese, along with his years living and working in Korea earlier in his professional life, helped shape a rich cross-cultural career that he discusses in the interview. Since 2002, he has held more than fifty solo exhibitions in Japan under the auspices of the Prova Gallery.
Of course, running is another essential part of Dan’s story.
Dan was once among the leading long-distance runners of his era. He placed third in the 1982 New York City Marathon, running 2:11:54, and he qualified twice for the Olympic Trials. He also won Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota during the 1980s, and we discuss that experience in more detail during the episode. Dan’s personal-best marathon time was 2:11:36. He also won the 10K and half marathon at the McCavia Games, recording a half-marathon best of 1:05 in difficult conditions.
Yet, as is so often true in the lives of dedicated athletes, injury became a defining challenge. Although Dan qualified for two Olympic Trials, injuries prevented him from participating in either. This brought an end to a decade-long Olympic ambition — a painful disappointment both physically and emotionally, as all of us can relate with big goals. In the interview, he reflects candidly on the distance between athletic achievement, injury and athletic fulfillment, and on the work of rebuilding a relationship with running after competitive dreams have been interrupted.
That personal experience is at the heart of Dan’s new illustrated book, Injury Blues and the Red Running Shoes.
Injury Blues and the Red Running Shoes is a short illustrated book about resilience, recovery, friendship, and the lasting joy of running. The central character is a former champion runner who has retired from serious competition and rediscovered the simple pleasure of running for fun. He dreams of visiting a friend in Rio de Janeiro and exploring the city’s hills in his trusted red running shoes. Before he can make the journey, however, an injury brings his training to a halt and leaves him facing the familiar emotional challenge that many runners know all too well: the injury blues.
Through charming pastel illustrations and an endearing protagonist, the book follows the runner’s recovery and eventual return to the activity he loves. It is written for runners, certainly, but its message reaches beyond running. Anyone coping with an injury, an interruption, a setback, or a period of recovery may find encouragement in its combination of humor, color, perseverance, and hope.
Dan explains that the book draws upon his own experience of injury and rehabilitation, as well as the friendship that helped sustain him through recovery. After receiving support from doctors, physiotherapists, and encouraging friends — and after months of hard work — he found his way back to running with a joy that remains with him decades later.
How to find it: The paperback edition of Injury Blues and the Red Running Shoes is listed at $16.95 in the United States and can be pre-ordered through Barnes & Noble or Amazon from Whitefox Publishing, and releases on October 19th, 2026: https://www.amazon.com/
The book is also available through Amazon UK here: https://www.amazon.co.
It is also available as an eBook through Kobo here: https://www.kobo.com/us/
One of the most meaningful aspects of this project is Dan’s decision to donate all proceeds from the book to "Freedom from Torture". Freedom from Torture is a UK charity that supports people who have survived torture, providing clinical psychiatric care, specialist therapy, care, rehabilitation, and support as survivors work to heal, rebuild trust, and establish safe lives. He has a personal connection and has listened to many survivors, through his own work and family affiliation with the organization. You can learn more about Freedom from Torture here: https://www.
This charitable commitment gives the project an additional dimension. A gentle, amusing, and colorful story about a runner recovering from injury will also help support people facing forms of trauma and recovery far more profound than those of sport. It is an act of generosity that reflects the book’s central values: endurance, companionship, healing, and the possibility of returning to joy.
Our full conversation explores Dan’s third-place finish at the New York City Marathon, his Olympic Trials experiences, his running career, his time in Korea and Japan, his transition from law to art, and the remarkable story of how he became the illustrator of the Japanese Harry Potter series. We also talk about the strange mixture of loss and opportunity that can follow an injury, and what it means to keep running not for medals, records, or Olympic selection, but simply for the pleasure of moving through the world on one’s own two feet.
For runners who have experienced injury, for friends looking for a thoughtful gift, and for anyone who needs a reminder that recovery can be slow, humorous, frustrating, and still deeply worthwhile, Injury Blues and the Red Running Shoes offers an encouraging companion on the road back!
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