Running Sports

Welcome to the Barkley Marathons, a fever dream of an ultra event, inspired by a prison break, heralded by a conch blast, paid for in cigarettes and socks, and completed only by a select few. A race in which competitors haul themselves up mountains, through extreme weather conditions, beyond pain and exhaustion, mile after mile. Completed 60 miles? That’s just the fun run. In the Spell of the Barkley is a story of sporting obsession, exploring what drives individuals to challenge themselves at the limits of what is possible – and what it takes to succeed.

Anna was never anything like those "real" runners on telly, but when she read about New Zealand’s 3,000-kilometer-long Te Araroa Trail, she began to wonder...perhaps being a "real" runner was overrated. Maybe she could just run it anyway? The Pants of Perspective is a witty, colorful, 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 that will lead you on a roller-coaster ride through fear, vulnerability, courage, and failure.

In the tradition of Seabiscuit, critically acclaimed author Neal Bascomb reaches back to the golden age of sport and crafts an utterly captivating narrative of what may be the most remarkable athletic feat of all time.

When Robert Earl Stewart sees his pants lying across the end of his bed, they remind him of a flag draped over a coffin - his coffin. At 38 years old, he weighs 368 pounds and is slowly eating himself to death. The only thing that helps him deal with the fear and shame is eating. But one day, following a terrifying doctor’s appointment, he goes for a walk - an act that sets The Running-Shaped Hole in motion.

""After years of rumors and speculation, Matt Hart sets out to peel back the layers of secrecy that protected the most powerful coach in running. What he finds will leave you indignant—and wondering whether anything in the high-stakes world of Olympic sport has truly changed."" —Alex...

When Emily Halnon lost her beloved mother to a rare uterine cancer at just sixty-six years old, she wanted to do something monumental to honor the person her mother had been. Emily's mom had taken up running in her late forties; she ran her first marathon at fifty. She even went skydiving to celebrate her sixtieth birthday. Emily, already an accomplished ultrarunner, decided to try to break the record for the Fastest Known Time by a woman on the Pacific Crest Trail's 460 miles across Oregon.

"Was running a marathon with my wife a smart idea? Certainly not. We had two kids under the age of three and demanding jobs in tech. However, being smart was not my main concern. In our 4-year marriage, she'd been a rock. She nursed me through leukemia. She picked me up from rehab and drove me to AA. Now, she wanted to run the Disney Marathon. So be it. I signed up like two sports bras, extra supportive!"

Horrified by the thought of breaking off his life-long love-affair with running, Richard Askwith began to think seriously about a question with profound implications for every enthusiastic runner: how can you keep running, happily and well, for the rest of your life—ideally, well into your nineties and beyond? Askwith's quest for the secrets of running longevity takes him on a long, mystifying journey: to laboratories and running tracks, cities and remote mountain villages, on several continents.

Elizabeth Clor wanted nothing more than to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon. Dead-set on achieving this goal, she found herself bound up in a vicious cycle of perfectionism and anxiety that thwarted her at every turn, despite making significant gains in her physical abilities over seven years. Boston Bound is the story of how Elizabeth discovered that her own brain was the culprit, and explains the steps she took to completely overhaul her mindset about her running and her life.

A searing exposé on the whiteness of running, a supposedly egalitarian sport, and a call to reimagine the industry “Runners know that running brings us to ourselves. But for Black people, the simple act of running has never been so simple. It is a declaration of the right to move through the...

In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of running a first marathon aged 36, dressed as a toilet, and representing Great Britain four years later. His midlife-crisis running problem escalated to 100-mile ultramarathons and record-breaking bimbles, culminating in his 261-mile Pennine Way run in July 2020.

Along the path to any goal - completing a marathon or a thesis paper, winning a medal or a contract - familiar mental hurdles arise: We may fixate on the odds of failure or find our interest flags two-thirds of the way through. That’s when elite endurance athletes - top performers in running, cycling, and swimming - turn to their rich arsenal of cognitive strategies to overcome self-doubt and unlock peak performance.

I've never had many friends. The only one I thought I could count on ended up stealing my scholarship—and then my boyfriend. Now, instead of spending my fall semester abroad, I'm stuck here in Iowa, with zero funds and even less hope that I'll get to study abroad at all before I graduate this spring. Even worse? My mentor asked me to take on the impossible—tutoring arrogant running back Logan Ford and helping him finally pass Chem 101. I'm about to give up before I start. But then I get a crazy idea. What if I can get Logan to be my date for the winter science ball?

“Hamilton is a guarantee of quality.” —Financial Times “Duncan Hamilton’s compelling biography puts flesh on the legend and paints a vivid picture of not only a great athlete, but also a very special human being.” —Daily Mail The untold and inspiring story of Eric Liddell, hero...

The Perfect Medicine takes the listener on a personal journey of discovery and explores the science of exercise and health. It can help listeners change their lives by providing facts about running and sharing inspiring examples of others who have used running to transform their lives.

An in-depth mental motivational audiobook for all athletes from Olympian Dr. Joanna Zeiger that offers game-changing strategies for programming your brain to achieve physical excellence. Champions, as the familiar adage preaches, are not born—they're made. Reaching the top of any sport, or any...

Without the right mindset, no one will reach their health and fitness potential, and that's exactly what James Atkinson focuses on in this book. James Atkinson knows what it takes to set a goal, and only through sustained, consistent motivation will that goal ever be met. This book is for anyone who wants to make a change in their life but doesn't know where to start, or doesn't think they have the motivation to meet their goals because after all, motivation is a shared quality in any type of fitness goal.

In 490 BCE Pheidippides ran for 36 hours straight from Athens to Sparta to seek help in defending Athens from a Persian invasion in the Battle of Marathon. In doing so he saved the development of Western civilization and inspired the birth of the marathon as we know it. Even now, some 2,500 years later, that run stands enduringly as one of greatest physical accomplishments in the history of mankind.

Whether you aspire to complete your first 5K race, achieve a new personal best, or simply find joy and fulfillment in your running journey, "Running Formula: A Guide on How to Elevate Your Running Game. Learn Tips and Techniques for Enhanced Speed and Endurance" is your trusted companion. Let it be your roadmap to reaching new heights in your running pursuits, unlocking your full potential, and experiencing the exhilaration of crossing the finish line stronger than ever before.

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 at the age of 41. Unlike many runners, Lisa's not afraid to finish last. In fact, she's now done so in 25 of the 100-plus marathons she's completed so far.