Get Your Free Audiobook
-
Why Running Matters
- Narrated by: Ian Mortimer
- Length: 8 hrs
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Sports
Non-member price: $25.82
People who bought this also bought...
-
Jog On
- How Running Saved My Life
- By: Bella Mackie
- Narrated by: Bella Mackie
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the previous decade, Bella had been so paralysed by her fears that exercise was the very last thing on her mind. So that first run 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, and she had swapped hiding in her house for fresh air, unknown roads and running tracks.
-
-
Breathtakingly Good
- By Melinda - YarnderWoman on 13-02-2020
-
Life Is a Marathon
- A Memoir of Love and Endurance
- By: Matt Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An endurance athlete and coach reveals how the marathon transforms the lives of everyone who attempts it - and how it has helped his own family cope with serious adversity.
-
-
Awesome audio book
- By Christie on 23-02-2021
-
I Can Run
- Your Empowering Guide to Running Well Far
- By: Amy Lane, Edward Lane
- Narrated by: Liza Ross, Jasmine Blackborow, Natalie Pela, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I Can Run is not a running book for 'runners' - it's the must-have running book for every woman who has ever experienced a moment of defeatism and had the little voice in their head make the excuse 'I can't run'. In 12 chapters, you will discover that you can. You will dig deep to find your inner athlete. You'll learn how to train smart, recover well, sync your runs to your menstrual cycle and fuel right.
-
Eat, Drink, Run
- How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. Yet somehow, as she began to recover from the emotional roller coaster of laying her life bare in her mental health memoir Mad Girl, she started to realise that getting outside, moving her body and talking to others for whom life was also an occasional challenge might actually help her.
-
-
OMG phenomenal
- By Amy Kempton on 20-11-2020
-
Footnotes
- How Running Makes Us Human
- By: Vybarr Cregan-Reid
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Running is not just a sport. It reconnects us to our bodies and the places in which we live, breaking down our increasingly structured and demanding lives. It allows us to feel the world beneath our feet, lifts the spirit, allows our minds out to play and helps us to slip away from the demands of the modern world. When Vybarr Cregan-Reid set out to discover why running meant so much to so many, he began a journey which would take him out to tread London’s cobbled streets, climbing to sites that have seen a millennium of hangings, and down the crumbling alleyways of Ruskin's Venice.
-
-
Running: Literature, philosophy, biology
- By Amazon Customer on 16-10-2019
-
The Rise of the Ultra Runners
- A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance
- By: Adharanand Finn
- Narrated by: Adharanand Finn
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ultra running defies conventional logic. Yet this most brutal and challenging sport is now one of the fastest growing in the world. But is it an antidote to modern life or a symptom of a modern illness? Adharanand Finn travelled to the heart of the sport to find out - and to see if could become an ultra runner himself. His journey took him from the deserts of Oman to the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, and from a 24-hour track race in Tooting to his ultimate goal, the 105-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
-
-
Gut wrenchingly honest account
- By Starbuck on 24-08-2019
-
Jog On
- How Running Saved My Life
- By: Bella Mackie
- Narrated by: Bella Mackie
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the previous decade, Bella had been so paralysed by her fears that exercise was the very last thing on her mind. So that first run 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, and she had swapped hiding in her house for fresh air, unknown roads and running tracks.
-
-
Breathtakingly Good
- By Melinda - YarnderWoman on 13-02-2020
-
Life Is a Marathon
- A Memoir of Love and Endurance
- By: Matt Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An endurance athlete and coach reveals how the marathon transforms the lives of everyone who attempts it - and how it has helped his own family cope with serious adversity.
-
-
Awesome audio book
- By Christie on 23-02-2021
-
I Can Run
- Your Empowering Guide to Running Well Far
- By: Amy Lane, Edward Lane
- Narrated by: Liza Ross, Jasmine Blackborow, Natalie Pela, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I Can Run is not a running book for 'runners' - it's the must-have running book for every woman who has ever experienced a moment of defeatism and had the little voice in their head make the excuse 'I can't run'. In 12 chapters, you will discover that you can. You will dig deep to find your inner athlete. You'll learn how to train smart, recover well, sync your runs to your menstrual cycle and fuel right.
-
Eat, Drink, Run
- How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad
- By: Bryony Gordon
- Narrated by: Bryony Gordon
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bryony Gordon was not a runner. A loafer, a dawdler, a drinker, a smoker, yes. A runner, no. Yet somehow, as she began to recover from the emotional roller coaster of laying her life bare in her mental health memoir Mad Girl, she started to realise that getting outside, moving her body and talking to others for whom life was also an occasional challenge might actually help her.
-
-
OMG phenomenal
- By Amy Kempton on 20-11-2020
-
Footnotes
- How Running Makes Us Human
- By: Vybarr Cregan-Reid
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Running is not just a sport. It reconnects us to our bodies and the places in which we live, breaking down our increasingly structured and demanding lives. It allows us to feel the world beneath our feet, lifts the spirit, allows our minds out to play and helps us to slip away from the demands of the modern world. When Vybarr Cregan-Reid set out to discover why running meant so much to so many, he began a journey which would take him out to tread London’s cobbled streets, climbing to sites that have seen a millennium of hangings, and down the crumbling alleyways of Ruskin's Venice.
-
-
Running: Literature, philosophy, biology
- By Amazon Customer on 16-10-2019
-
The Rise of the Ultra Runners
- A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance
- By: Adharanand Finn
- Narrated by: Adharanand Finn
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ultra running defies conventional logic. Yet this most brutal and challenging sport is now one of the fastest growing in the world. But is it an antidote to modern life or a symptom of a modern illness? Adharanand Finn travelled to the heart of the sport to find out - and to see if could become an ultra runner himself. His journey took him from the deserts of Oman to the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, and from a 24-hour track race in Tooting to his ultimate goal, the 105-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.
-
-
Gut wrenchingly honest account
- By Starbuck on 24-08-2019
Publisher's Summary
A memoir about the meaning of running from renowned historian and author of The Time Traveller's Guides.
You might run for fitness. You might run for speed. But ultimately, running is about much more than the physical act itself. It is about the challenges we face in life and how we measure up to them. It is about companionship, endurance, ambition, hope, conviction, determination, self-respect and inspiration. In this yearlong memoir, which might be described as a historian’s take on Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, the celebrated historian Ian Mortimer considers the meaning of running as he approaches his 50th birthday. From injuries and frustrated ambitions to exhilaration and empathy, it is a personal and yet universal account of what running means to people and how it helps everyone focus on what really matters.
What listeners say about Why Running Matters
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 29-11-2019
Insightful about life AND running
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was insightful about life AND running and that was not expected. Being over 40 myself, i now will consider my goals and aspirations in a totally different light. Thank you.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- adam viljoen
- 18-12-2020
from Adam
Adam Viljoen . At the age of 75 this book inspires me to keep on , and on and on with my jogging. In my 50 ' s I was n. one over 32 km and n. two over 21 km , in South Afrika.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- V.Mac
- 10-11-2020
Objectifies women
This audiobook made me feel incredible uncomfortable at times when discussing women in their running clothes.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jason 2013
- 11-08-2019
This is exactly how I feel about running!
What a book. I am a self confessed running bore, and my long suffering wife and most of my friends can’t understand why. This book describes how I feel, the reason why and the meaning. The euphoria I felt when I ran the Brighton Marathon to the disappointment to not getting a time I wanted, even when it was a “good time”. I can’t recommend highly enough especially if you want to understand why we run and why Park Run matters. Totally excellent, I will recommend to anyone and everyone I meet!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kiwi in UK
- 18-01-2021
Just Terrible
The writer is comedically egotistical, sexist and pompous. Constantly talking about his legacy to the world, what he can pass on to his sons, comparing himself to the builders of medieval cathedrals! Not to mention the constant biological justification of lusting after women half his age. I’m afraid this is what most women fear is really going on in the minds of the Pale, Stale & Male. It’s not becoming written down or read aloud. Do not read if female.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Nick
- 27-05-2019
You have to be a runner
Overall, I would class this book as a background book. You probably need to like running regularly and also like numbers. I listened to it on several training runs for the Paris Marathon. Good going Ian for your achievement, and you might have encouraged me to try a park run one day. I even signed up for a barcode. Would I listen again - no, but it certainly got me through some good 50 miles :)
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 25-02-2021
Boring
There are so many better running books out there. This book is quite boring because it is all about one middle aged man’s “revelations” about running and life. There are 40 odd chapters in the book and all of them are about a park run. So it feels like you are listening to the same story over and over again with him mostly talking about his pbs, his times, his injuries... At one point you realise that you just don’t care. Ian Mortimer thinks he got all these big lessons about life from running but I suspect the only thing he cares about is how fast he runs. Couldn’t stand it after chapter 11 and I will return it. He also objectifies women. Talking about female runners’ clothing and lusting after them. So don’t buy this book, try something else there are a lot of books out there about running that are actually inspirational.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Sw19
- 03-02-2021
An interesting view of the benefits of running
Engaging story about the benefits of park run and running. Like how it links running to improvements in other aspects of life.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ElvistheBoy
- 14-12-2020
Enjoyable
Enjoyed listening to Ian and his Park Run stories. Very easy listening and would recommend!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- lifeclearout
- 16-09-2020
A year of runs
This is a great book, read in a very engaging way by the author. So inspirational to listen to while you’re running — and so many great lessons to learn. Thoroughly recommend.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ROGER F WATERHOUSE
- 13-09-2020
Inspirational
Loved this audio book and will definitely listen to it again many times, totally inspired
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 28-07-2020
all C25K' runners should listen to this
loved this audiobook. there's lots of stories about the author's park runs.
l listened to it whilst running my 5ks and I want to run Parkruns more than ever.
16 Best Audiobooks by Aboriginal Authors
Across genres, there’s no shortage of brilliant titles from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers of Australia.



25 Best Celebrity Audiobooks
It’s always a pleasant surprise to pick up a familiar story and find an unexpected famous friend in the narrator’s booth.



Best Audiobooks of 2020
We've crunched the numbers, heard from our listeners and gotten expert opinions to round up the best listens of 2020.


