We recently turned to Threads to ask for running book recommendations. We were inundated with replies, some respondents volunteering entire lists (much appreciated). In case you missed it, we thought we’d share the love by compiling a top 10 of the best running books recommended by our followers on Threads.
1. Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson
Synopsis: How high or far or fast can humans go? And what about individual potential: what defines a person’s limits? From running a two-hour marathon to summiting Mount Everest, we’re fascinated by the extremes of human endurance, constantly testing both our physical and psychological limits.
In Endure, Alex Hutchinson, Ph.D., reveals why our individual limits may be determined as much by our head and heart, as by our muscles. He presents an overview of science’s search for understanding human fatigue, from crude experiments with electricity and frogs’ legs to sophisticated brain imaging technology. Going beyond the traditional mechanical view of human limits, he instead argues that a key element in endurance is how the brain responds to distress signals―whether heat, or cold, or muscles screaming with lactic acid―and reveals that we can train to improve brain response.
An elite distance runner himself, Hutchinson takes us to the forefront of the new sports psychology – brain electrode jolts, computer-based training, subliminal messaging – and presents startling new discoveries enhancing the performance of athletes today, showing us how anyone can utilise these tactics to bolster their own performance – and get the most out of their bodies.
2. Good for a Girl: My Life Running in a Man’s World – Lauren Fleshman
Synopsis: Lauren Fleshman was of the most decorated collegiate athletes of all time and a national champion as a pro, before becoming a coach for elite young female runners. Every step of the way, she has seen how our sports systems fail young women and girls as much as empower them.
Part memoir, part manifesto, Good for a Girl is Fleshman’s story of falling in love with running as a girl, battling devastating injuries and self-doubt, and daring to fight for a better way for female athletes.
Synopsis: 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. Travelling 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.
4. Feet in the Clouds: The Classic Tale of Fell Running and Obsession – Richard Askwith
Synopsis: Richard Askwith explores the world of fell-running in the only legitimate way: by donning his Ron Hill vest and studded shoes to spend a season running as many of the great fell races as he can, from Borrowdale to Ben Nevis: an arduous schedule that tests the very limits of ones stamina and courage. Over the months he also meets the greats of fell-running like the remarkable Joss Naylor, who to celebrate his fiftieth birthday ran all 214 major Lakeland fells in a single week; Billy Bland, the combative Borrowdale man whose astounding records still stand for many of the top races; and Bill Teasdale, a hero of the sport’s earlier, professional days, whom he tracks down to his tiny cottage in the northern Lakes. And ultimately Askwith’s obsession drives him to attempt the ultimate challenge: the Bob Graham Round – a non-stop circuit of 42 of the Lake District’s highest peaks to be completed within 24 hours.
This is a portrait of one of the few sports to have remained utterly true to its roots in which the point is not fame or fortune but to run the ancient, wild landscape, and to be a hero, if at all, within one’s own valley. Feet in the Clouds is a chronicle of a masochistic but admirable sporting obsession, an insight into one of the oldest extreme sports, and a lyrical tribute to Britain s mountains and the men and women who live among them.
5. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
Synopsis: In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running 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.
6. The Comeback Quotient – Matt Fitzgerald
Synopsis: The Comeback Quotient provides inspiration and practical advice on building mental endurance and physical stamina. When bestselling sportswriter Matt Fitzgerald went through a coronavirus-George Floyd double whammy, he realised that nobody can escape setbacks in life so we all need to be able to pull off a comeback. In training for his first triathlon since 2009 and overcoming chronic injury, Matt Fitzgerald puts his ultrarealist mental fitness training to the test.
In The Comeback Quotient, Matt Fitzgerald examines the science and stories behind some of the most astonishing sporting comebacks to uncover a new blueprint to survive and thrive.
Why are some athletes able to overcome overwhelming odds and rebound stronger than ever? And can we unlock the secret of their success?
Synopsis: 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.
8. Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn’t Built for Us – Alison Mariella Désir
Synopsis: Running saved Alison Desir’s life. At rock bottom and searching for meaning and structure, Desir started marathon training, finding that it vastly improved both her physical and mental health. Yet as she became involved in the community and learned its history, she realized that the sport was largely built with white people in mind. Running While Black draws on Desir’s experience as an endurance athlete, activist, and mental health advocate to explore why the seemingly simple, human act of long distance running for exercise and health has never been truly open to Black people. Weaving historical context – from the first recreational running boom to the horrific murder of Ahmaud Arbery – together with her own story of growth in the sport, Desir unpacks how we got here and advocates for a world where everyone is free to safely experience the life-changing power of movement. As America reckons with its history of white supremacy across major institutions, Desir argues that, as a litmus test for an inclusive society, the fitness industry has the opportunity to lead the charge – fulfilling its promise of empowerment.
9. Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind – Sakyong Mipham
Synopsis: A unique fitness program from a highly respected spiritual leader that blends physical and spiritual practice for everyone – regardless of age, spiritual background, or ability – to great benefits for both body and soul.
As a Tibetan lama and leader of Shambhala (an international community of 165 meditation centers), Sakyong Mipham has found physical activity to be essential for spiritual well-being. He’s been trained in horsemanship and martial arts but has a special love for running. Here he incorporates his spiritual practice with running, presenting basic meditation instruction and fundamental principles he has developed. Even though both activities can be complicated, the lessons here are simple and designed to show how the melding of internal practice with physical movement can be used by anyone – regardless of age, spiritual background, or ability – to benefit body and soul.
10. There is No Wall – Allie Bailey
Synopsis: There Is No Wall is ultra-runner Allie Bailey’s brutally honest and sometimes shocking account of alcoholism, depression and severe mental breakdowns which almost cost her life.
Told with disarming vulnerability, heartbreaking depth of feeling and dark humour, this isn’t a story about how running saved her – she was already running and at the height of her struggles sometimes even winning 100-mile-plus races. But somewhere between the darkest excesses of the music industry and the simple beauty of the ultrarunning scene, Allie found space to listen, learn and put into practice techniques that would go on to save her life and change it for the better.
There Is No Wall is a story about how doing something you love can lead you to achieve things you never thought possible. Running won’t save you, but it might buy you the time to save yourself.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading our (or more accurately our readers’) list of ten of the best running books currently available. Hopefully they’ve piqued your interest and are soon to become new additions to your bookshelves.
If you’re after something to read in the meantime, why not check out our article on the mental health benefits of running?
Support Our Website
The aim of Gritty Runners is to help and inspire every runner, from the most experienced ultra-runners to the non-runners contemplating taking up the sport. We’re still figuring out how best to achieve this, so bear with us!
If you’d like to show your love and support, there’s a number of ways you can help. The first is simply by reading the articles we share and providing your feedback. If you find them useful, helpful, or inspirational, please share them with your running (and non-running) friends and family (it might be easier than explaining your obsession!) Additionally, subscribing to our website REALLY helps us. It means you’ll be the first to be notified of new articles and we hope, as our relationships with brands develop, to offer subscriber-only discounts. Finally, if you purchase anything from the links on our website, it’s likely we’ll earn a small commission. So if you’re after a new pair of running shoes, clothing, books, or even a fitness wearable, why not use one of our links. The prices are identical whether purchased through our links or directly, but go a long way to support the website and therefore a small business.
As always, thank you for being here.
Leave a Reply