Welcome to our ever-growing list of what we consider to be the BEST running books for adventure lovers… EVER! We’ve been compiling this list based on books we have read and also books that our trusted community of running and adventure lovers rate highly.
Grand Trail – Frederic Berg & Alexis Berg
Grand Trail: A Magnificent Journey to the Heart of Ultrarunning and Racing
$44.21 in stock
10 used from $17.40
Born to Run – Christopher McDougall
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
$8.43 in stock
190 used from $1.89
Ultra Marathon Man – Dean Karnazes
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner
$5.30 in stock
112 used from $1.32
Eat & Run – Scott Jurek
Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
$9.29 in stock
96 used from $1.74
Finding Gobi – Dion Leonard
Finding Gobi: A Little Dog with a Very Big Heart
$9.99 in stock
73 used from $2.01
Finding Gobi Book Review / Runner Interview: Dion Leonard
The Road to Sparta – Dean Karnazes
The Road to Sparta: Reliving the Ancient Battle and Epic Run That Inspired the World's Greatest Footrace
$16.00 in stock
23 used from $5.59
Run or Die – Kilian Jornet
Run or Die
$15.31 in stock
39 used from $2.10
Finding Ultra – Rich Roll
Finding Ultra, Revised and Updated Edition: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
$10.90 in stock
78 used from $1.86
Alone on the Wall – Alex Honnold
Alone on the Wall (Expanded edition)
$14.49 in stock
101 used from $1.91
Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer
Once a Runner – John L. Parker Jr.
Once a Runner
$11.32 in stock
103 used from $1.53
The undisputed classic of running novels and one of the most beloved sports books ever published, Once a Runner tells the story of an athleteโs dreams amid the turmoil of the 60s and the Vietnam war.
Inspired by the authorโs experience as a collegiate champion, the novel follows Quenton Cassidy, a competitive runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his schoolโs athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletesโ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team. Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life against the greatest miler in history.
A rare insiderโs account of the...
Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer
Into Thin Air
$10.76 in stock
224 used from $0.95
National Bestsellerย
A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.
By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into...
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
Touching the Void
$13.59 in stock
136 used from $1.30
Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when disaster struck. Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as Yates tried to lower his friend to safety. Finally, Yates was forced to cut the rope, moments before he would have been pulled to his own death.
The next three days were an impossibly grueling ordeal for both men. Yates, certain that Simpson was dead, returned to base camp consumed with grief and guilt over abandoning him. Miraculously, Simpson had survived the fall, but crippled, starving, and severely frostbitten was trapped in a deep crevasse. Summoning vast reserves of physical and spiritual strength, Simpson crawled over the cliffs and canyons of the Andes, reaching base camp hours before Yates had planned to leave.
How both men overcame the torments of those harrowing days is an epic tale of fear, suffering,...
Eiger Dreams – Jon Krakauer
Eiger Dreams
56 used from $1.11
No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant hardships and victories more brilliantly than critically acclaimed author Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest work from such magazines as Outside and Smithsonian, he explores the subject from the unique and memorable perspective of one who has battled peaks like K2, Denali, Everest, and, of course, the Eiger. Always with a keen eye, an open heart, and a hunger for the ultimate experience, he gives us unerring portraits of the mountaineering experience.
Yet Eiger Dreams is more about people than about rock and iceโpeople with that odd, sometimes maniacal obsession with mountain summits that sets them apart from other men and women. Here we meet Adrian the Romanian, determined to be the first of his countrymen to solo Denali; John Gill, climber not of great mountains but of house-sized boulders so difficult to surmount that even demanding alpine climbs seem easy; and many more compelling and colorful characters. In the...
Natural Born Heroes – Christopher McDougall
Natural Born Heroes
$14.57 in stock
71 used from $1.73
Christopher McDougallโs journey begins with a story of remarkable athletic prowess: On the treacherous mountains of Crete, a motley band of World War II Resistance fightersโan artist, a shepherd, and a poetโabducted a German commander from the heart of the Axis occupation. To understand how, McDougall retraces their steps across the island that birthed Herakles and Odysseus, and discovers ancient techniques for endurance, sustenance, and natural movement that have been preserved in unique communities around the world.
His search takes us scrambling over rooftops with a Parkour crew in London, foraging for greens with a ballerina in Brooklyn, tossing heavy pieces of driftwood on a Brazilian beach with the creator of MovNatโand, finally, to our own backyards. Natural Born Heroes will inspire readers to unleash the extraordinary potential of the human body and climb, swim, skip, throw, and jump their way to heroic feats.
Fat Man to Green Man – Ira Rainey
Fat Man to Green Man
Runner Interview: Ira Rainey / Still Not Bionic Book Review
Trail Blazer – Ryan Sandes
Trail Blazer
$12.03 in stock
What does it take to run a six-day race through the worldโs harshest deserts? Or 100 miles in a single day at altitudes that would leave you breathless just walking? More than that, though: what is it like to win these races?
South Africaโs ultra-trail-running superstar Ryan Sandes has done just that. Since bursting onto the international trail-running scene by winning the first multistage race he ever entered โ the brutal Gobi March โ Ryan has gone on to win various other multistage and single-day races around the globe.
Written with best-selling author and journalist Steve Smith, "Trail Blazer โ My Life as an Ultra-distance Trail Runner" recounts the life story of this intrepid sportsman, from his experiences as a rudderless party animal to becoming a world-class athlete, and includes details on his training regimes, race strategies and aspirations for future sporting endeavors. Sports enthusiasts will enjoy the adrenaline-inducing trials and tribulations of one of South Africaโs...
A Life Without Limits – Chrissie Wellington
A Life Without Limits
$9.99 in stock
46 used from $1.22
In 2007, Chrissie Wellington shocked the triathlon world by winning the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. As a newcomer to the sport and a complete unknown to the press, Chrissie's win shook up the sport. A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS is the story of her rise to the top, a journey that has taken her around the world, from a childhood in England, to the mountains of Nepal, to the oceans of New Zealand, and the trails of Argentina, and first across the finish line.
Wellington's first-hand, inspiring story includes all the incredible challenges she has faced--from anorexia to near--drowning to training with a controversial coach. But to Wellington, the drama of the sports also presents an opportunity to use sports to improve people's lives.
A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS reveals the heart behind Wellington's success, along with the diet, training and motivational techniques that keep her going through one of the world's most grueling events.
ChiRunning – Danny Dreyer
ChiRunning
$10.59 in stock
142 used from $1.35
The revised edition of the bestselling ChiRunning, a groundbreaking program from ultra-marathoner and nationally-known coach Danny Dreyer, that teaches you how to run faster and farther with less effort, and to prevent and heal injuries for runners of any age or fitness level.
In ChiRunning, Danny and Katherine Dreyer, well-known walking and running coaches, provide powerful insight that transforms running from a high-injury sport to a body-friendly, injury-free fitness phenomenon. ChiRunning employs the deep power reserves in the core muscles, an approach found in disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and Tโai Chi.
ChiRunning enables you to develop a personalized exercise program by blending running with the powerful mind-body principles of Tโai Chi:
1. Get aligned. Develop great posture and reduce your potential for injury while running, and make knee pain and shin splints a thing of the past.
2. Engage your core. Shift the workload from your leg muscles to your core muscles, for...
Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
Unbroken
$9.26 in stock
355 used from $0.75
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER โข NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE โขย Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Readerโs Circle for author chats and more.
In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying...
Runner – Lizzy Hawker
Runner: A short story about a long run
41 used from $3.19
From a school girl running the streets of London to a world record-breaking athlete racing on mountains, long-distance runner Lizzy Hawker is an inspiration to anyone who would like to see how far they can go, running or not. This is the complete story of Lizzyโs journey, uncovering the physical, mental and emotional challenges that runners go through at the edge of human endurance.
Scared witless and surrounded by a sea of people, Lizzy Hawker stands in the church square at the centre of Chamonix on a late August evening, waiting for the start of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. The mountains towering over the pack of runners promise a gruelling 8,600 metres of ascent and descent over 158 kilometres of challenging terrain that will test the feet, legs, heart and mind. These nervous moments before the race signal not just the beginning of nearly twenty-seven hours of effort that saw Lizzy finish as first woman, but the start of the career of one of Britainโs most successful endurance...
Lizzy Hawker ‘Runner’ Book Review
Mind of a Survivor – Megan Hine
Mind of a Survivor
15 used from $5.78
Megan Hine ‘Mind of a Survivor’ Book Review
Running with the Kenyans
Running with the Kenyans
$16.15 in stock
38 used from $3.24
โCompletely satisfying, as well-paced and exhilarating as a good run.โโThe Boston Globe
ย
Whether running is your recreation or your religion, Adharanand Finnโs incredible journey to the elite training camps of Kenya will captivate and inspire you, as he ventures to uncover the secrets of the fastest people on earth. Finnโs mesmerizing questย combines a fresh look at barefoot running,ย practical advice on the sport,ย and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream: to run with his heroes.ย Uprooting his family of five, Finn traveled to a small, chaotic town in the Rift Valley province of Kenyaโa mecca for long-distance runners, thanks to its high altitude, endless paths, and some of the top training schools in the world. There Finn would run side by side with Olympic champions, young hopefuls, and barefoot schoolchildren, and meet a cast of unforgettable characters. Amid the daily challenges of training and of raising a family abroad, Finn would learn invaluable lessons about runningโand about...
Why We Run: A Natural History
Why We Run: A Natural History
$11.49 in stock
78 used from $1.28
In Why We Run, biologist, award-winning nature writer, and ultramarathoner Bernd Heinrich explores a new perspective on human evolution by examining the phenomenon of ultraendurance and makes surprising discoveries about the physical, spiritual -- and primal -- drive to win. At once lyrical and scientific, Why We Run shows Heinrich's signature blend of biology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy, infused with his passion to discover how and why we can achieve superhuman abilities.
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
$14.46 in stock
59 used from $2.28
โUnique among survival books . . . stunning . . . enthralling. Deep Survival makes compelling, and chilling, reading.โโDenver Post
Over a decade since its original publication, Laurence Gonzalesโs bestselling Deep Survival has helped save lives from the deepest wildernesses, just as it has improved readersโ everyday lives. Its mix of adventure narrative, survival science, and practical advice has inspired everyone from business leaders to military officers, educators, and psychiatric professionals on how to take control of stress, learn to assess risk, and make better decisions under pressure. Now with a new introduction on how this book can help readers overcome any of lifeโs obstacles, Gonzalesโs gripping narrative is set to motivate and enlighten a new generation of readers.Why Not Try Audible Instead: A word about using Audible to read/listen as Audiobooks
If you’ve never tried Audible or haven’t got into audiobooks before, I highly recommend signing up for a free trial! The biggest advantages of using Audible to listen to books, rather than reading them, are that:
- Get a FREE book. When you sign up for a free trial of Audible, you get 1 free audiobook + 2 free Audible Originals to get you started. After 30 days of your free trial, you get 1 audiobook and 2 Audible Originals each month for $14.95/mo. If you decide to cancel online at anytime, you get to keep all your audiobooks.
- Listening to someone narrate the book can be more impactful than reading written words.
- You can listen to audiobooks and get your fix of motivational self-improvement books while doing other things – boring things that don’t otherwise enhance your life, such as commuting, and doing household chores.
- You can consume information quickly. If you like to consume information fast, you can actually playback the audiobooks faster than just 1x speed. The faster you play them back, the more the narrator will sound like a chipmunk, but the benefit is you can absorb more information SO much faster than reading a book, or even listening to one at normal speed for that matter.
- Audible is always with you… If you have your phone with you, you have your audiobooks with you.
What a tremendous list. I have read a few, others just might end up on Santa’s list! ๐
Thank you Carl! ๐
I hope you get to read some new ones from our list ๐
Alastair