Let’s face it, as much as your mind and body might want to, you can’t always be running. And when you do finally stop pounding the roads, trails or treadmill, the process of learning about other runners’ experiences is a joy that only runners can truly understand. We’ve put together a list of the best books for runners that have inspired us, and possibly even made us love the sport more than we already do.
Born to Run
At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world’s top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe’s secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long.
With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Traveling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.
Truly one of the best books for runners ever written. A classic.
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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began as a runner to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing.
Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston.
By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.
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Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
‘Run until you can’t run anymore. Then run some more. Find a new source of energy and will. Then run even faster.’ The words of Scott Jurek, a dominant force – and darling – in the gruelling and growing sport of ultrarunning for more than a decade. In 1999, as a complete unknown, he took the lead in the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile jaunt over the Gold Rush trails of America’s Sierra Nevada. He went on to win that race seven years in a row. Jurek was also one of the elite runners who travelled to Mexico to run with the Tarahumara Indians, as profiled in the international bestseller Born to Run. His accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary.
In Eat and Run, Jurek opens up about his life and career as an elite athlete, and about the vegan diet that is key to his success. From his Midwestern childhood of hunting and fishing to his slow transition to ultrarunning and veganism, to his epic, record-breaking races, Jurek’s story shows the power of an iron will and the importance of thinking of food as fuel.
Full of stories of endurance and competition as well as practical advice and some of his original recipes, Eat and Run will motivate runners to go the distance, whether that means getting out for a first run, expanding your food horizons, or simply exploring the limits of human potential. One the best books for runners out there!
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Running with the Kenyans
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award
After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world’s biggest long-distance races, Runner’s World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover what it was that made them so fast – and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his family, he moved to Iten, Kenya, the running capital of the world, and started investigating.
Was it running barefoot to school, the food, the altitude, or something else? At the end of his journey he put his research to the test by running his first marathon, across the Kenyan plains.
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Don’t Stop Me Now
This book is a celebration of running – and there’s lots of us think about as runners. Part escape, part self-discovery, part therapy, part fitness. Part simple childlike joy of running when you could be walking.
Vassos Alexander shares the highs and lows of falling in love with running, from his first paltry efforts to reach the end of his street to completing ultra-marathons and triathlons in the same weekend.
Each of the 26.2 chapters also features a fascinating insight into how others first started from Paula Radcliffe to Steve Cram, the Brownlees to Jenson Button, Nicky Campbell to Nell McAndrew.
Funny, inspiring, honest – the perfect read for anyone with well-worn trainers by the door.
Buy from Amazon
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