Chip Bearden

Now an Amazon.com Best Selling author, Chip Bearden learned how to fly in 1965, before he was legally old enough to drink, drive a car, vote, or have sex. A nationally ranked sailplane racing pilot since the 1970s, he has dealt with challenges, successes, setbacks, and tragedies. With an impressive accumulation of 3,000 flight hours, Chip’s passion for sailplane racing has endured. Guided by his father, who served as his flight instructor, coach, and flying partner, Chip steadily ascended the ranks during the 1970s, before the arc of his competitive career was irrevocably altered by a horrific crash. Having been raised in a soaring family, Chip continued to embrace that passion as an adult. Now, however, he was faced with juggling it with the demands of a career and his own family, as well as with another passion—running marathons, including conquering the iconic Boston Marathon on multiple occasions. He has long wanted to leverage his flying and running experiences to push beyond sensational tales of “There I was, facing death at 10,000 feet!” and explore why pilots—and marathon runners, mountain climbers, auto racers, and others—are driven to flirt with danger, not always despite the risks but because of them. His widely respected writing has appeared online and in print, including in The New York Times.