Sports Memoirs Running

Susan and Carlos were unlikely friends. She was a young, overweight college professor and a bit of a trainwreck - juggling a divorce, a pack-a-day habit, and hiding empty boxes of wine under her bed. He was her boss, an Ironman triathlete, with life figured out. She was a whiner, he was a hard-ass. He had his shit together, she most assuredly did not. Trash-talking workouts, breakdowns, a devastating diagnosis - this heartwarming story of training buddies reveals a deep and abiding friendship that traversed life, sport, and everything in between.

First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting programme in the world and one of the BBC’s hardy perennials. Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the programme since 1981 and here he sifts comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, he highlights memorable moments from Sports Report.

Sharing stories of his own mental and physical health challenges and the way running—both alone and with track buddies—lifted him up, All You Need is Rhythm and Grit includes advice on gear, running routes, pacing, good beats, and the will to start . . . and keep going. Cory believes you don't have to be a tall and slim superhuman to run and feel good doing it! For anyone who thinks running isn't for them, here is a vibrant and inclusive guide to one of the most egalitarian sports for people of all genders, all bodies, all identities, and every class and color.

In 1986, the legendary fell runner Joss Naylor completed a continuous circuit of all 214 Wainwright fells in the Lake District, covering a staggering distance of over 300 miles - plus many thousands of metres of ascent - in only seven days and one hour. Those in the know thought that this record would never be beaten. It is the ultimate British ultramarathon. The person taking on this superhuman challenge would have to be willing to push harder and suffer more than ever before. There Is No Map in Hell tells the story of a man willing to do just that.

An enlightening biography and gripping sports narrative that takes us behind the scenes into the lives of some of the world’s most elite runners in Kenya and their coach, Patrick Sang.

At the height of the first American Running Boom, a small town in New Jersey emerged as something of a magical place in the sport. Tiny Bernardsville, in the Somerset Hills produced dozens of local, state, age-group, and national champions and claimed a place in the pantheon of American distance running. A junior program fed a high school team of boys and girls that claimed legend status. Before he was one of the best collegiate distance running coaches on the planet, Mark Wetmore was the young, ambitious, experimental coach of this program.

Professional distance runners Elvin Kibet and Shadrack Kipchirchir grew up in rural Kenyan villages. Though their lives began in poverty, both were driven to reach their full potential, to gain an education, and make a difference. And they would find their way to do just that through the high-pressure world of distance running.

What does it take to run the world—literally and figuratively? For Robyn Godfrey, it meant logging thousands of miles and navigating one of the most transformative decades of her life. Running the World is more than a runner’s travelogue, it’s a memoir of reinvention, resilience, and the conviction that it’s never too late to redefine yourself.

Laufen war in der Kindheit des Autors nie ein Thema. Doch erst viel später entdeckte er seine Leidenschaft für den Laufsport, der ihn zu faszinierenden Laufveranstaltungen führte. Ob über die Straßen von Köln, die Hafenpromenade in Hamburg, die pulsierenden Wege Berlins oder die legendären Strecken in New York — er hat unvergessliche Momente erlebt. Auch einzigartige Herausforderungen wie Läufe unter Tage und im Trailbereich haben seine Begeisterung für das Laufen noch verstärkt. Von seinen Anfängen bis zum Halbmarathon teilt er seine Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen.

Author and musician Mitch Alden wanted to record a new CD. Months after running a personal best at the 2009 New York City Marathon, he decided a new full-length CD would be his next goal. During an early spring run, however, the marathon bug emerged from winter's grip and took a bite out of him. As he ran, he formed the crazy idea of combining his passions for singing and running into one epic experience: He could record his CD at a friend's studio in Chicago and race the Chicago Marathon immediately afterward.

There are people who run occasionally or run as part of another sport, and there are people who need to run for their mental wellbeing. Tom Raffio and Ellen Raffio address the latter group in Stories from the Starting Line. The couple, who met running, runs more than 100 races a year in New Hampshire and Northern New England and uses this depth of experience to write about the diverse runners they meet at races.

Das wohl verrückteste Laufjahr seit der Erfindung des Marathons. Nimm das, Schweinehund! Als sich der Mehltau des zweiten Lockdowns über Deutschland legt, fasst der beliebte Comedian und inoffizielle Weltmeister im Langsamschwimmen Wigald Boning einen folgenreichen Entschluss: Ich werde ein Jahr lang Marathon laufen. Jede Woche einen. 52 mal 42 Kilometer, komme, was wolle. "Lauf, Wigald, lauf!" ist seine herrlich schräge Liebeserklärung an die Langstrecke, an die Kraft der Unvernunft und an all seine Begleiterinnen und Begleiter durch ein Jahr voller Aufs und Abs.

Philipp Pflieger war bei Olympia 2016 der schnellste deutsche Marathonläufer. Ein Jahr später sorgte er für Schlagzeilen, als er beim Berlin-Marathon seine Kräfte überschätzte und das Rennen orientierungslos abbrechen musste. Daraus hat er viel gelernt, nicht nur über die Königsdisziplin des Laufens, sondern auch über sich selbst. Sein nächstes Ziel: Olympia 2020 in Tokio. In seinem Hörbuch nimmt Pflieger uns mit hinter die Kulissen des professionellen Marathonlaufens. Er erzählt über die Faszination des Laufens, lässt uns Siege und Niederlagen miterleben, und gibt Tipps, was Amateure von den Profis lernen können.

Voices From the Hills is a history of female participation in mountain running, a development that was fiercely resisted in its early years. Steve Chilton has researched his subject deeply, interviewing many female athletes whom he rightly describes as pioneers. Thanks to them, female participation has become accepted and followed avidly in all its aspects including the long distance, high ascent runs over ranges such as the Mamores and recognized challenges such as the Bob Graham Round.

Francis Benali is a Southampton Football Club legend and a celebrated charity endurance athlete, and he's ready to tell his story. Francis 'Franny' Benali played football for 20 years for Southampton FC in nearly 400 games, almost his entire career. His utter dedication to the club caused him to be a hero to Saints fans around the world.

Sabrina Verjee is an ultrarunning phenomenon. In June 2021, on her fourth attempt, she became the first person to climb the Lake District’s 214 Wainwright hills in under six days, running 325 miles with a colossal 36,000 meters of ascent. Where There’s a Hill tells the story of an outsider who was never picked for a school sports team yet went on to become an accomplished modern pentathlete and adventure racer. After switching her focus to ultrarunning in her 30s, Sabrina moved to the Lake District, where she could hone her mountain-running skills on the local fells.

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. But the half marathon was the first of what was to become a hugely impressive trajectory of sporting accolades and successes.

"Kiss or kill. Besa o mata. Besa la gloria o muere en el intento. Perder es morir, ganar es sentir. La lucha es lo que diferencia una victoria, un vencedor." Un fuera de serie. Un héroe. Una persona extraordinaria. Kilian Jornet es el actual campeón mundial de skyrunning, una de las pruebas físicas más duras del planeta. Ha subido y bajado el Kilimanjaro más rápidamente que cualquier otra persona en todo el mundo. Ha fulminado todos los record mundiales en cada reto que se ha propuesto: la Ultra-Trail del Mont-Blanc, la Transpirenaica, la vuelta al lago Tahoe...

Donna Deegan was only months from realizing her dream of launching the nation's first national breast cancer marathon when she was diagnosed with the disease for the third time. While still committed to the race, Deegan began searching for answers beyond the conventional. As she opened one door, it led to the next. What started as a quest for a cure became a physical and spiritual rebirth. Deegan takes us along on her journey with great candor and humor.

Born sighted, "blind" Dave Heeley showed athletic promise from an early age, smashing his town's 1500-metre track record aged just 11 years old. However, a devastating diagnosis shattered his sporting dreams, and he hastily gave up on sporting activity. From Light to Dark charts Dave's story and how he rediscovered his boyhood talent for running and went on to undertake some of the world's toughest challenges, including 10 marathons in 10 days and the 2015 Marathon des Sables, dubbed the "toughest footrace on Earth".