Ultrarunning Reads

Like the sport itself, ultrarunning books used to be quite a niche – either instructional or madcap inspirational (think UltraMarathon Man or How to Run Uphill ). In 2022 with the sport growing in popularity and visibility, the choice of running reads is, if not quite bewildering, then encouragingly varied.

As an ultrarunning fangirl with my first 50k this year I hope over-reading isn’t as risky as overthinking. I don’t want to end up frozen in existential dread halfway up a Munro but I can deal with a few blisters. Ultrarunning books have to appeal to hardcore adventurers and to readers who think battling through bracken in the rain at 3 am with only a soggy jam sandwich to look forward to is unnecessary self-punishment but love to follow along with the struggle.

In the era of dot-watching, cancelled and rescheduled races and the skewed entertainment criteria of covid lockdowns, ultrarunning has proved to be the perfect armchair suffer-fest.

These are a few of the running books I’ve enjoyed recently, all of them by UK authors in an attempt to shift the gaze a bit from the US scene (and just because they’re brilliant). I’ve steered clear of ‘how to’ books (I don’t know how to pick the best when there are so many) and I’m not claiming that these are the juiciest fruit out there (it was tough to choose) but hopefully they will whet appetites for summer adventure and prompt reflection on the fantastic endeavours ultrarunners have already taken on.