Running books

I’ve always saw myself as the kind of person that went out and did stuff rather than the reading about it or watched it on TV.  I rarely even read papers let alone the sports sections. So I think I was as surprised as anyone when I looked back and realised just how many running books i’d managed to read. The majority of these books have been received as gifts and possibly would never have been the ind of book I would have bought for myself, but in their own way most have affected my running.

Looking back on it, it wasn’t until I was inspired by ‘born to run’ that I truly believed that I could take on my first big Ultra. So its maybe about time that I wrote a few words of my own about these inspirational books that have entertained and motivated me to run to new levels.

running books

Feet in the clouds – A tale of fell running and obsession, Richard Askwith.

This is Richard Askwith’s first book, but right from the first page, his passion for the sport, his abilities as a writer and a his jounalistic research skills are very obvious.

The book alternates between the compelling stories of the autor’s attempts to run the notorious Bob Graham round in under 24 hours, the history of english fell running.

One of the things that inspired me most about this book was that the author, while managing to achieve his goal of running the Bob graham, was a very ordinary middle of the pack runner, he hadn’t won any medals or set any records.

Shortly after finishing the book I started fell running, one of my first races was Borrowdale amongst the greatest Lakeland fell runs and where I met the legendary Joss Naylor for the first time, it was almost as if the book was coming to life.

Born to Run - The hidden tribe, the ultra-runners, and the greatest race the greatest race the world has ever seen , Christopher McDougall.

This is has to be one of the most popular running books ever written, paced more like a action adventure novel than a running book it tells an amazing tail of finding Caballo blanco and running against the Tarahumana.

Like ‘Feet in the clouds’, ‘Born to run’ alternates between the main story and background information on the greatest ultra runs and runners telling each as its own small tale, but ‘born to run’ also tells another story the story of how we evolved to be the ultimate running machines.

A very strange thing happened as I read ‘born to run’ without thinking about it my running style changed very sightly, the length of my stride extended, my arms droppen a little and my times gradually it wasn’t something i’d consiously set out to do just little things i’d picked up while reading the book.

Like ‘Feet in the clouds’ before it ‘Born to run’ again inspired me to push my running to the next level, moving from marathons and fell running on to Ultra, completing the Lakeland 50, Northumbrian 100k and the Wall 70 mile races.

Barefoot Runner – the life of Marathon champion Abebe Bikila , Paul Rambali.

Part sports biography, part political thriller, the ‘Barefoot Runner’ tells the story of Abebe Bikila, the first African to win an Olympic gold medal and his swedish coach Omni Niskanen.

Unlike many of the other running books, ‘Barefoot runner’ is not trying to become some sort of running bible, nor is it told by the author himself (Abebe having died some years ago).In fact you have to read almost 1/4 of the book before you get to the first mention of a race This book simply tells the remarkable story of Abebe Bikila, from his growing up as a child in Africa to his winning Olympic glory in Rome in 1960.

This book did not inspired to get up and push my running to a new level as much as the previous 2 books, but it was certainly a very interesting read and it gave me a new level of respect for some of the distances that some runners will go to achieve greatness and some of the obstacles that they may have had to overcome to get to the podium.

Ultramarathon Man – confessions of an all-night runner, Dean Karnazes.

In this the first of a series of books by the now legendary ultra runner Dean Karnazes, we learn about Dean’s first experiences as a cross country and track runner about the death of his sister and a night on the town that triggered a return to running and the awesome fetes of endurance that followed.

The book is  step by step account of the ups and down of some of the toughest races the planet has to offer. The boston globe describes it as ‘a tail of ordinary people doing extraordinary things’ and for me that sums up its charm. Dean Karnazes comes across as an every day guy that fits his running in around his job and his family like the rest of us, he simply puts on his trainers after work and goes out and runs, and boy can he run.

I have only just finished reading ‘Ultra Marathon Man’, and already I’ve bought the follow up ‘RUN!’  I am a little scared that after being inspired to run ultra races by ‘Born to run’ that i’ll be equally inspired to just go out and run crazy distances into the night by ‘Ultra marathon man’.

Eat and Run – My unlikely journey to Ultramarathon greatness, Scott Jurek.

Scott Jurek is one of the greatest ultra distance runners around today, He’s one of a growing number of vegetarian runers and was featured in Chris McDougll’s ‘born to run’, he now has a book of his own, which includes a number of recipe’s.  I’ve yet to read the book having only picked it up yesterday, but I can recommend the recipe for Red Curry Almond Sauce, which I made last night.

With the growing popularity of Ultra running there seems to be a growing appetite for these kinds of running books, which are in turn inspiring more of us to get out and push our running to new levels. If you have any recommendations for running books or would like to share experiences that these books have inspired you to, please leave a comment below.

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5 Responses to Running books

  1. percy says:

    I have read dean`s books very good got to pic up Eat and Run at the library Tuesday it is on hold . will get feet in the clouds to nice blog thanks Percy

  2. Debs M-C says:

    I’m just about finished Scott Jurek’s book. I found it quite interesting – and didn’t just focus on a vegan diet, as I thought it might be. Don’t think I’ll be turning off my head torch to hide from competitors though!

  3. admin says:

    Another recommendation from fellow dailymiler GaryW – an other which is a little funny is The Loonacy of a Long Distance Runner.

  4. Jim says:

    I just finished Scott Jurek’s book too, and I guess I preferred it to the the Dean Karnazes books. Personally I find myself getting more fired up to run if I spend a little time reading about it too…

  5. admin says:

    Thanks for the comments everyone.

    I’m really pleased that people seem to have enjoyed Scott Jurek’s book, especially as i’m just about to start reading it. I quite enjoyed Dean Karnazes’ book, I think that’s possibly because having ran a few Ultras I identified with some of the things he wrote about. Not so much the stuff like how it feels to have run crazy distances (as I haven’t anywhere near as far as he has) but the little things like him not having the heart to tell the pizza delivery guy that he was running to the beach in Santa Cruz rather than the local beach. Typically when an ultra runner tells someone that they run marathons that personal will be impressed, when you tell them that they run 50, 70 or 100 miles without resting they simply can’t process that information and at best they think you are a little crazy.