Sports Memoirs Running

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.

Rachel Ann Cullen’s first book, Running for My Life, described her own marathon journey through depression, bipolar disorder and body dysmorphia, and her revelatory discovery that running could transform her physical and mental well-being. Since hearing from people who had read about her experiences, Rachel wanted to tell some stories of other runners from all around the world—ordinary people living with mental health struggles, dealing with grief, cancer, and other unavoidable life events who have relied on running to get them through their worst days and to keep going.

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.

Alexandra 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.

Dom Harvey is a hugely popular radio DJ. He's known for his funny gags and has been described as a shock-jock. So it might come as a surprise to find out that Dom is also seriously into running - marathon running. In fact, he loves it. This audiobook is a love story about running and about marathons especially. What got Dom into marathons? How did running save his life? And why, despite being an old fart, is he now trying to run even faster than ever before?

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.

After seeing a friend run the London Marathon, Sophie decided to give it a go. Collapsing two miles from the finish line, her first attempt was a disaster, but she picked herself up and kept going on a path that would take her to races all over the world across the Alps and even the Sahara Desert for the famous 150-mile Marathon des Sables. Sophie has now run all six World Marathon Majors, completed 15 marathons and three ultra-marathons, and run the entire length of the Thames Path, from source to sea.

In 2018 a photograph of Sophie Power breastfeeding her three-month-old son during the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc went viral. Her journey is extraordinary: from coming second to last in the school cross country to reaching her peak in her forties when she not only ran for Great Britain in the 24-Hour World Championships but also broke two Guinness World Records in ultra-running. Sophie shares how she built resilience through life's toughest moments, learned to prioritize herself beyond motherhood, and discovered the power of both saying no and empowering herself in male-dominated spaces.

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.

Running Through the Dark is Jen’s account of her ultra-journey. Playing out on the moors of the Pennines, the fells of the Lake District and the mountains of Wales and Scotland, this is much more than a running book, it is a story about resilience, about never giving up, and about battling through the night and always believing that there will be a new dawn.

Anna McNuff had never run a mile without shoes on before. And yet, one British summer, she set off to run a (very) wiggly route from the Shetland Islands to London–on a mission to cover the distance of 100 marathons…in bare feet.

Failure Is an Option is the story of an average runner who sets out to discover just how far he can go. With the support (and misgivings) of his family, and aware that his quickest years are behind him, Matt Whyman leaves the Saturday morning 5K to push towards 100-mile ultramarathons and beyond. By slowing things down to run a very long way, he joins a growing number of men and women from all walks of life striving to do something extraordinary.

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.

This is a celebration of running, and what lots of us think about when we run. Part escape, part self-discovery, part therapy, part fitness. Part simple childlike joy of running when you could be walking. Vassos Alexander shares the highs and lows of falling in love with running, from his first paltry efforts to reach the end of his street to completing ultra marathons and triathlons in the same weekend.

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.

Racing Against Time is the inspiring true story of Jeff Weiss's incredible transformation in midlife. At 48 years old, out of shape and searching for new purpose, Weiss took on his first 10K—an event that would spark a profound personal evolution. What began as a simple challenge soon turned into an extraordinary journey of endurance, perseverance, and self-discovery. Within a decade, he pushed beyond perceived limits, becoming an Ironman and ultramarathoner, proving that age is no barrier to strength and ambition.

Meb Keflezighi is all about hope and second chances—starting with his very survival. The child of a small African country ravaged by a brutal war, Meb arrived in America with nothing but the clothes on his back, speaking no English and never having raced a mile. So how did he end up an A student, one of the most celebrated and respected athletes of his generation, and winner of the 2009 New York City Marathon?

Ultrarunning’s Buckle Fever: Origins of the Western States Endurance Run—a book that chronicles the moment in 1974 when Gordy Ainsleigh dared to run 100 miles alongside the Tevis Cup horses. His audacious feat ignited a movement—and redefined the limits of human endurance. It became more than a race. It became a rebellion against doubt. At its heart were co-founders, Mo Livermore and Shannon Weil (MoShan), two women who helped shape the race’s formative years, which lead the way for the worldwide sport of ultra trail running.

This superbly narrated and insightful audiobook follows the paths of thirteen ravaged champions in solitary crafts such as cycling and running, bowling and boxing, hiking and golf. These men work at and master their sports, driven only by a burning need to prove themselves. Movingly detailed here are their painful journeys to grace, and their eventual realization that no victory brings lasting happiness. In short, here is the human experience, told in seconds and miles, scorecards and records.

And So I Run is a story about running. Jamie Doward uses running as an escape, as a way to evade life’s most painful realities. As the marathon medals stack up, a new obsession creeps in – beating the clock, needing to run a time, a time that once attained would magically solve all of life’s problems.