I’m rushing out this blogpost because I think we need all the distractions we can get right now and I promise that these books will inspire and get you all excited for when we can all get out there again.
The list of running books I’m desperate to read is getting longer and longer (people just keep being awesome!) so I’ve started splitting them into categories. This batch have all been penned by amazing women.
I’ve read around half of these books and loved every one. I’m going to start working through all of them from now and I’ll review them here. In the meantime here’s my suggestions plus each book’s blurb-happy reading!
Let us all know what you think in the comments below or in our Facebook group
Just a Little Run Around the World: 5 Years, 3 Packs of Wolves and 53 Pairs of Shoes: 5 Years, 29 Marriage Proposals and 53 Pairs of Shoes by Rosie Swales Pope
After her husband died of cancer, 57-year-old Rosie set off to run around the world, raising money in memory of the man she loved. Followed by wolves, knocked down by a bus, confronted by bears, chased by a naked man with a gun and stranded with severe frostbite, Rosie’s breath taking 20,000-mile solo journey is as gripping as it is inspiring.
Rosie left Wales with nothing but a small backpack of food and equipment, and funded by the rent from her little cottage. So began her epic 5-year journey that would take her 20,000 miles around the world, crossing Europe, Russia, Asia, Alaska, North America, Greenland, Iceland, and back into the UK.
On a good day she’d run 30 miles, on a bad day she’d only manage 500 yards, digging herself out of the snow at -62 degrees C, moving her cart inches at a time. Every inch, every mile, was a triumph, a celebration of life, and 53 pairs of shoes later Rosie arrived home to jubilant crowds in Tenby, Wales.
Rosie’s incredible story is a mesmerizing page-turner of the run of her life. It will wake up the sleeping adventurer in you; it will inspire hope, courage and determination in you; but most of all it will convince you to live your life to the full and make every day count.
Reborn on the Run: My Journey from Addiction to Ultramarathons by Catra Corbett
Aside from her rock star looks, Catra Corbett is a standout in the running world on her accomplishments alone. Catra is the first American woman to run over one hundred miles or more on more than one hundred occasions and the first to run one hundred and two hundred miles in the Ohlone Wilderness, and she holds the fastest known double time for the 425-miles long John Muir Trail, completing it in twelve days, four hours, and fifty-seven minutes.
And, unbelievably, she’s also a former meth addict.
After two years of addiction, Catra is busted while selling, and a night in jail is enough to set her straight. She gives up drugs and moves back home with her mother, abandoning her friends, her boyfriend, and the lifestyle that she came to depend on. Her only clean friend pushes her to train for a 10K with him, and surprisingly, she likes it and decides to run her first marathon after that.
In Reborn on the Run, the reader keeps pace with Catra as she runs through difficult terrain and extreme weather, is stalked by animals in the wilderness, and nearly dies on a training run but continues on, smashing running records and becoming one of the world’s best ultrarunners. Along the way she attempts suicide, loses loved ones, falls in love, has her heartbroken, meets lifelong friends including her running partner and dachshund TruMan, and finally faces the past that led to her addiction.
A Beautiful Work In Progress by Mirna Valerio
Runners’ vocabulary is full of acronyms like DNS for “Did Not Start” and DNF for “Did Not Finish,” but when Mirna Valerio stepped up to the starting line, she needed a new one: DNQ for “Did Not Quit.”
Valerio has tied on her running shoes all across the US, from the dusty back roads of central New Jersey to the busy Route 222 corridor in Pennsylvania to the sweltering deserts of Arizona. When you meet her on the trail, you might be surprised to see she doesn’t quite fit the typical image of a long-distance runner. She’s neither skinny nor white, and she’s here to show just how misguided these stereotypes can be.
In this prejudice-busting, body-positive memoir told with raw honesty, an adventurous spirit, and a sharp sense of humor, Valerio takes readers along on her journey from first-time racer to ultramarathoner and proves that anyone can become a successful athlete.
Jog On: How Running Saved My Life by Bella Mackie
Divorced and struggling with deep-rooted mental health problems, Bella Mackie ended her twenties in tears. She could barely find the strength to get off the sofa, let alone piece her life back together. Until one day she did something she had never done of her own free will – she pulled on a pair of trainers and went for a run.
That first attempt didn’t last very long. But to her surprise, she was back out there the next day. And the day after that. She began to set herself achievable goals – to run 5k in under 30 minutes, to walk to work every day for a week, to attempt 10 push-ups in a row. Before she knew it, her mood was lifting for the first time in years.
In Jog On, Bella explains with hilarious and unfiltered honesty how she used running to battle crippling anxiety and depression, without having to sacrifice her main loves: booze, cigarettes and ice cream. With the help of a supporting cast of doctors, psychologists, sportspeople and friends, she shares a wealth of inspirational stories, research and tips that show how exercise often can be the best medicine. This funny, moving and motivational book will encourage you to say ‘jog on’ to your problems and get your life back on track – no matter how small those first steps may be.
Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory by Deena Kastor
Deena Kastor was a star youth runner with tremendous promise, yet her career almost ended after college, when her competitive method – run as hard as possible, for fear of losing – fostered a frustration and negativity and brought her to the brink of burnout. On the verge of quitting, she took a chance and moved to the high altitudes of Alamosa, Colorado, where legendary coach Joe Vigil had started the first professional distance-running team. There she encountered the idea that would transform her running career: the notion that changing her thinking – shaping her mind to be more encouraging, kind, and resilient – could make her faster than she’d ever imagined possible. Building a mind so strong would take years of effort and discipline, but it would propel Kastor to the pinnacle of running – to American records in every distance from the 5K to the marathon – and to the accomplishment of earning America’s first Olympic medal in the marathon in 20 years.
Let Your Mind Run is a fascinating, intimate look inside the mind of an elite athlete, a remarkable story of achievement, and an insightful primer on how the small steps of cultivating positivity can give anyone a competitive edge.
A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey by Chrissie Wellington
Chrissie Wellington is the world’s No 1 female Ironman triathlete, a four times World Champion, having recently won the her fourth title in October 2011 and the World Record holder. In 2009 she was voted ‘Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year’ and in 2010 was awarded the MBE.
She is the undefeated champion of Triathlon, having won thirteen Ironman titles from thirteen races. She set a new World Record of 8 hours19:13 at Quelle Roth Germany in 2010, which slashed over 14 minutes from the previous record and where she was only beaten by six men. She went on to improve this time by another minute in the 2011 race. She also set a new world record for the fastest ever Ironman sanctioned event at Ironman South Africa in April 2011.
Chrissie has displayed unprecedented levels of stamina, strength and competitiveness in becoming Ironman World Champion in only her second event at Ironman level. Her victory in Kona, Hawaii in 2007 finishing five minutes ahead of her nearest rival was described as the ‘biggest upset in Ironman history’ and ‘a remarkable feat, deemed to be near impossible task for any athlete racing as a rookie at their first Ironman World Championships’.
She defended her World title in Hawaii in 2008 and again in 2009. However a bout of severe sickness on the eve of the 2010 event meant she was unable to make the start line to defend her title. She bounced back in 2011 to retain her title in her most fiercely competitive race to date, which adds another fantastic chaper to her extraordinary sporting career.
This is the remarkable story of how a Norfolk girl – a ‘sporty kid, swimming, playing hockey, running, but never excelling and always more interested in the social side of the sports scene’ – became a world champion.
Running For My Life: How I built a better me one step at a time by Rachel Ann Cullen
Throughout her life, Rachel Cullen followed a simple yet effective route straight to mental health misery. Suffering from bipolar disorder, and hungry for approval at any price, she settled for flunked relationships, an ill-fitting career, and poor health to match. Whilst mindlessly seeking a utopian vision of ‘normality’ that she was mis-sold and so desperate to achieve, the solution seemed increasingly illusive.
Stuck in this endless cycle of disappointment with her life, and not knowing how to handle the strain of her mental illness, she put on a pair of old trainers. She’d never been able to think of herself as a ‘runner’, and the first time she forced herself out the door, she knew it would hurt. Everywhere. She just didn’t realise how much it would heal her, too.
Interspersed with Rachel’s real diary entries, from tortuous teen years to eventually running the London Marathon, Running for my Life will make you laugh, cry, and question whether you really can outrun your demons.
Beyond Impossible: From Reluctant Runner to Guinness World Record Breaker by Mimi Anderson
When Mimi first started jogging on a treadmill as an unfit 36-year-old mother-of-three, she never imagined she would go on to become a World-Record-breaking ultrarunner.
After coming to terms with the anorexia that had impacted her life from a young age, Mimi begins to reassess her relationship with food and finds a new resolve in running. With a renewed sense of purpose, she decides to take the sport that saved her life to the next level, training hard and throwing herself in at the deep end by entering the epic Marathon des Sables in the Sahara desert, despite still being a novice runner. One startling success leads to another, as she finds herself taking on ever-more-challenging races – from the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, USA, to the 6633 Arctic Ultra – all building up to her biggest challenge yet: attempting to gain the Guinness World Record time for a female running 840 miles from John o’Groats to Land’s End.
This incredible story of how an ordinary mum ran her way into the record books will inspire beginner runners and die-hard marathon devotees alike, proving that, no matter where life takes you, it’s never too late to achieve your dreams and do the impossible.
The Extra Mile: One Woman’s Personal Journey to Ultrarunning Greatness by Pam Reed
One year after her astonishing victory at the Badwater Ultramarathon, Pam Reed again made distance running history when she braved the hottest weather in years—135 degrees—to successfully defend her title. How does this 100-pound mother and stepmother of five muster the endurance and courage for the 28-hour climb from the hottest desert floor on Earth to the shadow of the continental United States’ tallest point?
In The Extra Mile we watch this ultramarathon champion seek balance in her life as a wife, mother, athlete, and entrepreneur. With astonishing candor she tells of her 15-year-long battle with anorexia. And she helps us to understand her passion for ultrarunning—to discover how far the human body can be pushed.
Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley
Alexandra Heminsley had high hopes: the arse of an athlete, the waist of a supermodel, the speed of a gazelle. Defeated by gyms and bored of yoga, she decided to run.
Her first attempt did not end well.
Six years later, she has run five marathons in two continents.
But, as her dad says, you run with your head as much as with your legs. So, while this is a book about running, it’s not just about running.
You could say it’s about ambition (yes, getting out of bed on a rainy Sunday morning counts), relationships (including talking to the intimidating staff in the trainer shop), as well as your body (your boobs don’t have to wobble when you run). But it’s also about realising that you can do more than you ever thought possible.
Very funny, very honest and very emotional, whether you’re in serious training or thinking about running for the bus, this is a book for anyone who after wine and crisps for supper a few too many times thinks they might . . . just might . . . like to run like a girl.
I Can Do Hard Things: How Small Steps Equal Big Impact by Julie Van Amerongen
When Julie van Amerongen set out to run every day for 30 days, she was looking for consistency and discipline in her life. With each day under her belt, she found her confidence, shoe size, and love of actual running itself growing too.
After completing her first 365 days of running every.single.day, she sets her sights on harder things—from the predict mile (where even the slowest runner can win the race!), running a series of 5ks in the park, joining a cross country team, 10ks and half marathons, to discovering her true love of trail running and finally training for and attempting her first ultra marathon!
In addition to the race stories, van Amerongen shares her day-by-day ultra marathon training log along with real life lessons of what happens when you run covered in literal blood, sweat and tears… and ice and snow and rain and mud and heat and kids and dogs and work and all the other things anyone with no special talent or extra time or energy might encounter on their road to greatness!
A fun and funny, relatable and inspirational read for anyone who is a runner and motivational for anyone who aspires to push boundaries of any kind into new territory, van Amerongen’s stories of life on the road and the trail will assure you that if she can do hard things, then you can absolutely achieve your own vision of badassery too!
Strong by Kara Goucher
Two-time Olympian Kara Goucher shares her secrets to conquering self-doubt and improving running performance using proven tools from the field of sport psychology. Strong: A Runner’s Guide to Boosting Confidence and Becoming the Best Version of You includes tips, techniques, and real-life experiences from Olympians Emma Coburn and Molly Huddle, and New York Times best-selling author Robin Arzón. Strong also offers perspectives from two experts in the field of sport psychology, including Kara’s own sport psychologist, Dr. Stephen Walker.
Your Pace or Mine? What Running Taught Me About Life, Laughter and Coming Last by Lisa Jackson
Lisa Jackson is a surprising cheerleader for the joys of running. Formerly a committed fitness-phobe, she became a marathon runner at 31, and ran her first 56-mile ultramarathon aged 41. And unlike many runners, Lisa’s not afraid to finish last – in fact, she’s done so in 20 of the 90-plus marathons she’s completed so far.
But this isn’t just Lisa’s story, it’s also that of the extraordinary people she’s met along the way – tutu-clad fun-runners, octogenarians, 250-mile ultrarunners – whose tales of loss and laughter are sure to inspire you just as much as they’ve inspired her. This book is for anyone who longs to experience the sense of connection and achievement that running has to offer, whether you’re a nervous novice or a seasoned marathoner dreaming of doing an ultra. An account of the triumph of tenacity over a lack of talent, Your Pace or Mine? is proof that running really isn’t about the time you do, but the time you have!
Irongran: How keeping fit taught me that growing older needn’t mean slowing down by Edwina Brocklesby
At the age of 50, Eddie Brocklesby decided to run her first half marathon. Until that point, she’d done little running, and her exercise regime consisted of little more than chauffeuring her children to their own sports clubs. In common with so many people, any interest she’d shown in sport in her childhood had diminished as her adult life progressed, with spare time becoming ever more limited in the face of work and family commitments.
After that event, and following the loss of her husband of thirty years to cancer, she completed a marathon. Now, 75 years old, the past twenty years has seen Eddie take part in marathons, triathlons and Ironman races across the globe and she has accrued many medals and awards.
In Irongran, Eddie looks back on her life and explains just how she’s managed to develop the energy to match the enthusiasm she’s always had for an active lifestyle. She shares the difficulties she’s experienced in her sporting endeavours, and explains how she’s managed to overcome them. Eddie is passionate about the health and wellbeing of our ageing population and provides up to date research about why keeping active in later years is so important, along with guidance about how to remain full of life in your later years.
The Lazy Runner by Laura Fountain
The Lazy Runner follows Laura Fountain from starting out as a novice runner – unfit, clueless about running, and incredibly lazy – to finishing her first marathon, and beyond. At first unable to run 400 metres without stopping, Laura has now completed five marathons, the most recent in under four hours. Along the way, Laura learns countless lessons about running, most of them the hard way. But most importantly this self-confessed couch potato learns to love running. As well as offering inspiration and motivation to get out there and run, her book offers tips on how to make running easier and more enjoyable. Offering practical information on buying the right kit, choosing the best race and what to do on race day, it also tackles the important running questions you might be embarrassed to ask – like when will it get easier? And what happens if I need the toilet?
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen FICTION
Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She’s not comforted by the news that she’ll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run?
As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don’t know what to say, act like she’s not there. Which she could handle better if she weren’t now keenly aware that she’d done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she’s missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her.
With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that’s not enough for her now. She doesn’t just want to cross finish lines herself—she wants to take Rosa with her.
Run to the Finish: The Everyday Runner’s Guide to Avoiding Injury, Ignoring the Clock, and Loving the Run by Amanda Brooks
n her first book, popular runner blogger Amanda Brooks lays out the path to finding greater fulfillment in running for those who consider themselves “middle of the pack runners” — they’re not trying to win Boston (or even qualify for Boston); they just want to get strong and stay injury-free so they can continue to enjoy running.
Run to the Finish is not your typical running book. While it is filled with useful strategic training advice throughout, at its core, it is about embracing your place in the middle of the pack with humor and learning to love the run you’ve got without comparing yourself to other runners. Mixing practical advice like understanding the discomfort vs. pain, the mental side of running, and movements to treat the most common injuries with more playful elements such as “Favorite hilarious marathon signs” and “Weird Thoughts We all Have at the Start Line,” Brooks is the down-to-earth, inspiring guide for everyone who wants to be happier with their run.
This Mum Runs by Jo Pavey
‘Come-back races? I’ve had more than a few, the night of 10 May 2014 was the ultimate long shot. I was a forty-year-old mother of two who had given birth eight months before. I trained on a treadmill in a cupboard by the back door and I was wearing a running vest older than most of the girls I was competing against. Was I crazy?’
Jo Pavey was forty years old when she won the 10,000m at the European Championships. It was the first gold medal of her career and, astonishingly, it came within months of having her second child.
The media dubbed her ‘Supermum’, but Jo’s story is in many ways the same as every mother juggling the demands of working life with a family – the sleepless nights, the endless nappy changing, the fun, the laughter and the school-run chaos. The only difference is that Jo is a full-time athlete pushing a buggy on her training runs, clocking up miles on the treadmill in a cupboard while her daughter has her lunchtime nap, and hitting the track while her children picnic on the grass.
Heartwarming and uplifting, This Mum Runs follows Jo’s roundabout journey to the top and all the lessons she’s learnt along the way. It is the inspiring yet everyday story of a mum that runs and a runner that mums.
Depression Hates a Moving Target: How Running With My Dog Brought Me Back From the Brink by Nita Sweeney
It’s never too late to chase your dreams. Before she discovered running, Nita Sweeney was 49-years-old, chronically depressed, occasionally manic, and unable to jog for more than 60 seconds at a time. Using exercise, Nita discovered an inner strength she didn’t know she possessed, and with the help of her canine companion, she found herself on the way to completing her first marathon. In her memoir, Sweeney shares how she overcame emotional and physical challenges to finish the race and come back from the brink.
There’s hope and help on the track. Anyone who has struggled with depression knows the ways the mind can defeat you. However, it is possible to transform yourself with the power of running. You may learn that you can endure more than you think, and that there’s no other therapy quite like pavement beneath your feet.
The Pants Of Perspective: One Woman’s 3,000 kilometre running adventure through the wilds of New Zealand (Anna’s Adventures Book 1) by Anna McNuff
Anna was never anything like those ‘real’ runners on telly – all spindly limbs, tiny shorts and split times – but when she read about New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometre-long Te Araroa Trail, she began to wonder… perhaps being a ‘real’ runner was overrated. Maybe she could just run it anyway?
Travelling alone through New Zealand’s backcountry for 148 days, she scrambled through forests, along ridge-lines, over mountain passes, along beaches and across swollen rivers. Running up to 52 kilometres in a day, she slept wild most nights, and was taken into the homes and hearts of the kiwi people in between.
The Pants of Perspective is a witty, colourful and at times painfully raw account of a journey to the edge of what a woman believes herself to be capable of. It is a coming-of-age story which will lead you on a roller coaster ride through fear, vulnerability, courage and failure. For anyone who has ever dreamt of taking on a great challenge, but felt too afraid to begin – this story is for you.
Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running From Madness by Suzy Favor Hamilton
The former middle distance Olympic runner and high-end escort speaks out for the first time about her battle with mental illness, and how mania controlled and compelled her in competition, but also in life. This is a heartbreakingly honest yet hopeful memoir reminiscent of Manic, Electroboy, and An Unquiet Mind.
During the 1990s, three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton was the darling of American track and field. An outstanding runner, a major sports apparel spokesperson, and a happily married wife, she was the model for an active, healthy, and wholesome life. But her perfect facade masked a dark truth: manic depression and bipolar disorder that drove her obsession to perform and win. For years after leaving the track, Suzy wrestled with her condition, as well as the loss of a close friend, conflicted feelings about motherhood and her marriage, and lingering shame about her athletic career. After a misdiagnosis and a recommendation for medication that only exacerbated her mania and made her hypersexual, Suzy embarked on a new path, and assumed a new identity. Fueled by a newfound confidence, a feeling of strength and independence and a desire she couldn’t tamp down, she became a high-priced escort in Las Vegas, working as “Kelly.”
But Suzy could not keep her double life a secret forever. When it was eventually exposed, it sent her into a reckless suicidal period where the only option seemed out. Finally, with the help of her devoted husband, Suzy finally got the proper medical help she needed. In this startling frank memoir, she recounts the journey to outrun her demons, revealing how a woman used to physically controlling her body learned to come to terms with her unstable mind. It is the story of a how a supreme competitor scored her most important victory of all—reclaiming her life from the ravages of an untreated mental illness. Today, thanks to diagnosis, therapy, Kelly has stepped into the shadows, but Suzy is building a better life, one day at a time. Sharing her story, Suzy is determined to raise awareness, provide understanding, and offer inspiration to others coping with their own challenges.
Eat, Drink, Run: How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad by Bryony Gordon
Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. But, as she recovered from the emotional rollercoaster of opening up her life in her mental health memoir MAD GIRL, she realised that there were things that might actually help her: getting outside, moving her body and talking to others who found life occasionally challenging. As she ran, she started to shake off the limitations that had always held her back and she saw she had actually imposed them on herself. Why couldn’t she be a runner?
In April 2017, Bryony Gordon ran all 26.2 miles of the London Marathon. In Eat, Drink, Run., we join her as she trains for this daunting task and rises to the challenge one step at the time. Of course, on top of the aching muscles and blistered feet, there’s also the small matter of getting a certain royal to open up about his mental health. Through it all, Bryony shows us that extraordinary things can happen to everyone, no matter what life throws our way.
Sky Runner: Finding Strength, Happiness and Balance in your Running by Emelie Forsberg
Develop your running skills with Emelie Forsberg, one of the most successful trail/sky runners in the world. In Sky Runner, she shares her passion for running through stories, recipes, techniques and training exercises to help you to get the most out of your body. With experiences from her life and career dotted throughout each chapter in the book, Sky Runner teaches you how to how to listen to your body and build both your mental and physical strength sustainably.
Filled with spectacular photographs taken by legendary mountain athlete Kilian Jornet, Sky Runner showcases what we all love about running particularly the thrill of running in the great outdoors.
Regardless of whether you’re running three kilometres or 50 kilometres, this book will help improve your attitude to running and give it deeper meaning, while motivating you to be your best self.
Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed
Not a running book but deserving of a mention for sheer inspiration!
At twenty-six, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s rapid death from cancer, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk eleven-hundred miles of the west coast of America – from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington state – and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise – a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet.
Strayed’s account captures the agonies – both mental and physical – of her incredible journey; how it maddened and terrified her, and how, ultimately, it healed her. Wild is a brutal memoir of survival, grief and redemption: a searing portrayal of life at its lowest ebb and at its highest tide.
