7 Books That Belong On Every Runner’s Bookshelf

If you’re a runner, picking up a book on running is always a good idea. If you’ve been slacking, it will inspire you to get going. If you’re training, it can motivate you to push it even further. If you’re in a rut, it can inspire you to mix things up. If you’re injured, it can fill the void in your heart that a lack of running creates. I swear, when I’m gearing up for a long run, all I need to do is look at the cover of Eat And Run to get inspired to go, go, go. Sometimes, if a running book is good enough and it doesn’t only speak to the running nerds who put Vaseline on their nipples and measure the lengths of their snot rockets, non-runners will love it, too. The following books are must-reads for any runner, but really, they’re for all of us. I imagine they’d inspire almost anyone to lace up a pair of running shoes for the first time.
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami
Runners, readers, and writers alike will enjoy Murakami’s slender book detailing his devotion to the sport. (If you’re a runner, reader, and writer and you haven’t read this, what are you waiting for?!) The book offers a peek into the training, traveling, dedication, and persistence it took to help Murakami’s complete over twenty-five marathons and a sixty-two-mile supermarathon. His running memoir will certainly inspire you to run and write, and it’s enlightening to hear Murakami draw philosophical parallels between the two. For both running and writing, this book instills a sense of respect and appreciation for what it takes to accomplish something.
Born To Run, by Christopher McDougall
Not a runner? Who cares. This is a badass adventure story. It begins with a question—”why is my foot hurting?” asked by the author, McDougall, an avid runner. He stumbles upon an article about a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara who are able to run for days on end in hostile terrain wearing thing strips of tire rubber on their feet. He then sets off to find them, and Born To Run is that story. The journey to reach them is as difficult as it is fascinating, and it’s described in a way that will have you on the edge of your seat. McDougall weaves in fascinating history about ultramarathons and some seriously jaw-dropping revelations about our evolutionary past and what it means for us today as runners and as people, while touching on the themes of culture and obsession with running in general. The book also boasts a set of characters that will keep you highly entertained. Not to be overly dramatic, but it has the capacity to change your outlook and life, whether you consider yourself a runner, or not. (And if you believe McDougall, you are one—you were born to be.)
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It, by Neal Bascomb
For the most part, running is one of those sports that is mind numbing to anyone who doesn’t run themselves, and even so for some who do. But if you’ve truly dedicated your body, your mind, your schedule, and your sanity to running, if you’ve thought about splits and farkleks and DOMS, you will become obsessed with the science and exactness of what it takes to run the perfect race (to the point that it will become annoying for those around you to listen to you go on and on about it). And for awhile, the perfect race was the mile, and the time that nobody could beat was four minutes. There were three athletes attempting to break the barrier—Roger Bannister of England, John Landy of Austria, and Wes Santee, a Kansas farm boy. The story is an interesting one whether you are into running or not—it’s a real nail-biter. Reading it, you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat cheering the trio on as they race to clock in under four minutes. Plus, The Perfect Mile makes you want to get up and off your feet and break a record yourself. (Even if it’s just your own PR, or how many Oreos you can fit inside your mouth.)
Eat And Run, by Scott Jurek
I read Eat And Run because I’d heard of Scott Jurek, one of the most dominant ultramarathon runners in the world. I’m also a vegetarian, so Jurek’s vegan-ness intrigued me. Most people probably assume a vegan isn’t getting the nutrition to be a professional runner, let alone an ultramarathoner. But Jurek’s book really delves into how he reached veganism and how his diet has helped sustain him as a super athlete. Peering into Jurek’s diet is interesting because he does something most of us don’t do, or at least I don’t—think about the food we are putting into our bodies and how it will affect our athletic performances. Jurek has a simple philosophy—his food is his fuel, and he eats and acts mindfully. And he’s crazy, in the way many runners are. A quote: “It’s hard, simple calculus: Run until you can’t run anymore. Then run some more. Find a new source of energy and will. Then run even faster.” The writing might not drive you to become a ultramarathoner or even a vegan, but it will make you want to get up off your chair to achieve something, maybe something you didn’t think you could accomplish before. (Recipes included!)
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Lara Hildebrand
Unbroken is the beautiful and inspiring story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner-turned-WWII lieutenant whose plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 1943. Zamperini survived the open ocean, blood-thirsty sharks, thirst, starvation, enemy aircraft, and more, before reaching land in Japan, where he was admitted into a POW camp—something that probably made him wish he was back with the sharks. But Zamperini survived and survived and survived—it’s something that all runners like to think they’re capable of doing. Perseverance and the ability to accomplish the unthinkable is any athlete’s dream. This non-fiction story is truly stranger than fiction, and you won’t be able to put it down.
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics, by Jeremy Schaap 
If I was asked to recall one stand-out moment in running history, I’d point to the Berlin Olympics in 1936 when Adolph Hitler supposedly refused to congratulate Jesse Owens, an African-American son of sharecroppers, for winning four Olympic gold medals in track and field (even if it’s a myth). It’s possible this moment just has importance for me—when I was in fourth grade, I produced a short claymation film detailing Owens’s race and the snub that followed. Still, the book is the best account on the subject, and it’s a story that should not be overlooked. Jeremy Schaap, the ESPN national correspondent and the author of Cinderella Man draws on unprecedented access to the Owens family, never-before read interviews, and in-depth research to bring us inside Nazi, Germany during unusual circumstances—the Olympics that some say America never should have attended.
The Sports Gene, by David Epstein
In an exploration of the philosophical and evolutionary nature of athleticism, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein answers questions like “Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa’s geography? Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition? Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom? Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field?” In other words, are all these runners we’ve been reading about  (and our favorite athletes) just freaks of nature? Epstein dives deep into the nature vs. nurture debate (proving that these questions can’t be answered with an answer so simple), traces our progress on solving these questions, and interviews a variety of athletes, visiting the places they grew up in an attempt to understand the social setting that may have contributed in their seemingly superhuman powers. Why do top athletes excel? You’ll be surprised.
Hey runners—what books did I forget?