Push, Pace, Position, Pray

Miika Nousiainen

Original title: Ratakierros

Author: Miika Nousiainen

Published: 2024

Publisher: Otava

Genres: Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Pages: 335

Reading material:

Finnish manuscript, English synopsis

Miika Nousiainen's hilariously funny new novel!

Czech rights sold to Host pre-publication!

When a man turns 50, he must either get a motorcycle or start training for the 400-meter run.

For Miika Nousiainen, who doesn't have a driver’s license and isn’t interested in rebellion, the choice is a lap on the track, with the goal set for the World Championships in Gothenburg.

The novel’s title, Push, Pace, Position, Pray, references sprinter Michael Johnson’s approach to the 400-meter race, divided into four key phases:

  • Push: A strong start off the blocks, reaching near top speed in the  initial 100 meters.
  • Pace: A steady speed maintained along the backstretch.
  • Position: Strategically positioning around the third curve.
  • Pray: A hopeful, tenacious push through the final homestretch to the finish line.

Can the author transform himself into a real lightweight, high-frequency runner? Perhaps even the record-holder for his age group in Finland!

The author delves ever deeper into a world built on concepts like dorsiflexion, wall drives, MCT oil, and recovery. And his biggest external threat? The Swedish athlete Mattias Sunneborn.

Push, Pace, Position, Pray could very well be the Sports Book of the Year.

Vesa Rantama, Helsingin Sanomat

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)
CZECHIA: Host

About author

Miika Nousiainen

Miika Nousiainen (b. 1973 in Säynätsalo) has worked as a news and current affairs journalist for MTV3's news department. In addition, he has written for several popular TV-shows.

Nousiainen’s debut novel, Raspberry Boat Refugee (2007), tells the story of Mikko Virtanen, a man who desperately wants to become Swedish at any cost. In this tragicomic work, Nousiainen makes sharp observations about our western neighbor and illustrates that we’re all self-proclaimed experts on Sweden.

Roots (2016) follows the search for a missing father, taking readers across continents from Lieksa, Finland, to Australia. The book was also well-received internationally.

In Facelift (2020), Nousiainen gently explores themes of family and the longing for connection.

In addition he has written The Danger of the Long Distance Runner (2009) and Forrest Giant (2011). 

Nousiainen's novels have been adapted countless times and translated into languages such as Swedish, German, Dutch, Italian, and Estonian.

Miika Nousiainen have been awarded with: Laila Hirvisaari Foundation Grant (2008), Kalevi Jäntti Prize (2009) and Honorable Mention in the Sports Museum Foundation’s Sports Book of the Year Competition (2010)

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Bibliography


2024, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Miika Nousiainen

Push, Pace, Position, Pray


2020, Commercial/Upmarket, Humor

Miika Nousiainen

Facelift


2016, Humor

Miika Nousiainen

Roots


2007, Humor

Miika Nousiainen

Raspberry Boat Refugee


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