Here are 26 books about running that are worth reading
Books are the best, y'all.
Hello!
This edition of Run the North is a little different. Since it’s holiday season — a time to give people presents, ask for presents and also a time you might want to escape by yourself for an hour or two because holiday cheer is exhausting — I decided to do a round up of great running books you should check out. I’ve read all of these and they all get an official Run the North stamp of approval.
All the Canadians books (either the author or the subject or both is Canadian) have a maple leaf by them.
There are some links and podcasts to check out at the end. If that’s what you’re here fo, just scroll past the books!
A programming note: next week’s issue of Run the North will be a countdown of the top 10 Canadian running moments in 2019. Then Run the North will be on vacation until Jan. 6. That means no issues on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30.
OK, let’s get to it!
Memoirs, biographies & good stories
Running Ransom Road by Caleb Daniloff
This might me my favourite underrated running book. Caleb Daniloff, who is a contributor to Runner’s World, was an addict. He got sober, in part thanks to running and decides to run a race in each of the cities he lived in growing up, including Boston, New York, Moscow and rural Vermont. Each chapter is dedicated to that race and also reflects on his time there. It’s powerful and beautifully written and speaks to the power of running as a healing and coping tool. Running is not therapy. But it helps.
Mighty Moe by Rachel Swaby and Kit Fox 🍁
This might be the real-life story equivalent of Girl Runner. In 1967, a 13-year-old Canadian girl, Maureen Wilton, broke the women’s marathon world record. But because of her age and her gender, people questioned her accomplishment. The pressure wore on Maureen and she eventually quit the sport, removed herself from the limelight and her accomplishment was pretty much forgotten by history. Until now. Mighty Moe is geared at a middle-grade to YA audience, but it’s a story we all can appreciate.
Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor
This is one of the best professional athlete memoirs I have read. Deena looks back on her life and professional running career, but through the lens of how the mental lessons she learned in each training cycle made her a better runner. As a result, this memoir is sharply focused and enlightening. Even if you’re not interested in Deena’s story, there’s a lot of takeaways in this for your own running performance.
A Long Road to Boston by Mark Sutcliffe 🍁
This is a simple and straightforward memoir about how damn hard it is to get to Boston. Mark Sutcliffe, who used to be the editor of iRun, was always on the bubble of qualifying, running fast enough that a BQ felt within reach, but every attempt fell short. This book breaks down his attempts marathon by marathon and it was a kind reminder that plenty of runners have big dreams and plenty of runners struggle to achieve them. But there’s a beauty in trying over and over again and not giving up.
A Race Like No Other by Liz Robbins
This book is about the New York City marathon. It weaves together the race’s history with the story of several runners participating in the 2007 race. The book breaks the race down mile by mile. This is the book that made me sign up for NYC the second time. It’s a perfect capsule for one of the world’s most iconic races.
26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi
In each chapter in this book, Meb — probably the greatest American marathoner ever — breaks down his 26 professional marathons and the lessons he’s learned from them. Like Deena Kastor’s memoir, the focused approach makes this book sharp, informative and easy to read. His marathon stories are fun to read and the takeaways are reminders that elites are just like us. They just get paid for it.
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🍁
I’ll be honest: this book is barely about running. Jesse Thistle is a Metis-Cree academic and speaker who had a difficult childhood, became addicted to drugs and was homeless for a while before finally finding his way out through rehab, education and love. He takes up running during rehab and there’s a great scene about him running in donated shoes as he works his way back to health and wellness. Read it for the inspiring story, appreciate it even more because running is part of it.
Running with the Buffaloes by Chris Lear
This book is the Friday Night Lights of running books. Chris Lear spent one season with the cross-country team at the University of Colorado. The team features future stars, walk-ons determined to make a difference and everyone in between. The season Lear ends up covering is nothing short of remarkable and, like the best books about sports, this book isn’t really about running at all. It’s about a community coming together to achieve something, believe in themselves and overcome the imaginable together.
How to Lose a Marathon by Joel Cohen 🍁
This is a cute look at how one goes from non-runner to marathoner and balances marathon training with a demanding job, a family and having a life. I liked it because here is one about a normal guy doing his best and discovering all the bananas things runners take for granted that are actually bonkers: eating disgusting gels, buying expensive gear, waking up at 5am to run. It’s relatable, funny and easy to read.
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Nike. The athletic apparel company that’s so influential a simple symbol has worldwide recognition. It’s gigantic. And problematic. But it began somewhere. And Shoe Dog tells that story really well. The company’s founder, Phil Knight, tells the story of how he went from selling Japanese running shoes out of the back of his car to running one of the biggest companies in the world. I’m reluctantly recommending this one because it’s a good read and understanding the origin story of Nike helps understand why they keep making bad decisions that put the bottom line and athletic dominance ahead of the health and wellbeing of their athletes, employees and the planet.
Running: A Love Story by Jen A. Miller
Jen A. Miller writes the New York Times’ running newsletter. She also wrote this book about the role running played in her life over the course of a decade. Through the ups and downs of relationships and her career, running remains a constant outlet. This book is a simple, relatable and fundamentally inspiring story. You don’t have to be fast for running to be important to you or to go after big running dreams.
Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
Louis Zamperini’s life was insane and inspiring. He became one of the world’s greatest runners, participating in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, before enlisting to fight in the Second World War. Then his Air Force bomber crashes in the Pacific Ocean, and he survives more than 40 days adrift at sea. This book, which was turned into a movie by Angelina Jolie, is the ultimate story of survival and how running can make you tougher than you ever believed possible.
The Greatest Athlete (You’ve Never Heard of) by Mark Hebscher 🍁
Can you name the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal? Yeah, I couldn’t either until this book came out. The answer is George Washington Orton, who took home bronze in the 400m hurdles and gold in the 2500m steeplechase at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris. History incorrectly identified Orton as an American for 70 years. Orton’s story is finally, comprehensively, told, and it’s worth a read.
A Beautiful Work in Progress by Mirna Valerio
Mirna Valerio is fat, black and run ultramarathons. She doesn’t look like a lot of ultrarunners, and that’s partly she she wrote this book. She’s here to show us that our misconceptions of who can and should run are wrong. Along the way, she’s graceful, funny and candid about her running journey and her life in general.
In Search of Al Howie by Jared Beasley 🍁
Al Howie is a Canadian ultrarunner who ran really, really far. Like Prince George to Boston far. Like Winnipeg to Ottawa and back to Winnipeg far. He ran across Canada in record time and won more than 50 ultramarathons and multiday races in his lifetime. Howie died in 2016 and this book, which is based on two years of interview with him, shares his remarkable story
Run the World by Becky Wade
Becky Wade is an elite American marathoner. After college, she took off on an around the world journey to learn what running cultures were like. Over the course of a year, she visits nine different countries, learns a lot running, racing, fuelling and recovering. She writes about it all, and when she returns to the U.S., she applies what she learned to her own training and she launches her competitive marathoning career.
Fiction
The Illegal by Lawrence Hill 🍁
This novel has everything. It reads like a caper, is actually a story about immigration and being a refugee and is also a story about being an elite runner. Keita Ali is an aspiring elite runner who is on the run literally and on the run from government officials and the shady agent he signed with after he flees his home country in fear of political persecution. He sees running as his only way out.
Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder 🍁
This is the (fictional) story of Aganetha Smart, who ran the 800 metres at the 1928 Olympic Games. In real life, the 800 metres was cancelled until 1960 after 1928, seemingly because the woman exerted themselves too much. This happens in the book too and the cancellation, taking away the thing Aganetha loves most (not to mention helps pays her bills), sends her spiralling. This may be fiction, but it’s a story of an athlete’s single-mindedness, the fallout of achieving a goal and how sexism can ruin pretty much anything. That certainly seems as relevant as ever right now.
Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod 🍁
Runners will only care about the first story in the collection, but the whole book is great. That story, Miracle Mile, is about two elite Canadian middle-distance runners preparing for the 1,500m national championship race. The piece is one of the most perfect works of fiction to ever look at the life of a not-at-all-famous elite athlete, the lure of the race and how a bond over it can keep two very different people connected for their entire lives.
The mental & physical side of running
Inside a Marathon by Scott Fauble & Ben Rosario
This book is definitely the nerdiest book on the list. Scott Fauble and his coach Ben Rosario wrote it together through Scott’s training for the 2018 NYC marathon, where he placed seventh overall and second American. The book is literally his training log and notes with a weekly recap from both Scott and Ben. It’s funny, insightful, informative and a deep, deep, deep dive into what goes into an elite marathon training cycle.
Good to Go by Christie Aschwanden
This book explores all the recovery trends that have hit fitness lately, from cryotherapy to cupping to compression to Gatorade. It’s readable, it’s fascinating and it teaches you the lesson we all know to be true but tend to ignore anyway: Recovery is easy, but there are no quick fixes. Eat to fuel yourself, sleep a lot and rest when you need to and when you think you should.
Roar by Stacy Sims
Women are not small men. So let’s stop training like we are and eating like we are. This book breaks down the unique physiological needs of female athletes based on our hormonal structure, how we are built and more. I had never really thought about how my period and ovulation cycle affects my performance beyond feeling like shit when I was menstruating. But this book breaks it all down and offers important takeaways for all women.
The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by The Oatmeal
This comic book absolutely nails why I run. It’s funny, insightful, heartwarming and better showcases the mind and heart of a middle-of-the-pack marathoner better than any other book I’ve read.
Grit by Angela Duckworth
This book isn’t about running, but it’s really applicable. Grit explores what drives success and argues that it’s not talent or genius, it’s mostly perseverance. Combine that with a passion for what you are doing, and success is more likely than not. Duckworth uses examples from across industries to show that’s the case, which should inspire anyone chipping away at a big running goal.
Endure by Alex Hutchinson 🍁
Canadian science-of-running writer Alex Hutchinson looks at what athletes are able to endure and what is really limiting us. He combines science and storytelling to look at all the things that might limit us — our bodies, how we fuel them, the weather, how we breathe and more — to make the argument that we can endure more than we think and yes, there are physical barriers to success, but most of it might be in our heads.
Rebound by Cindy Kuzma and Carrie Jackson Cheadle
Being injured sucks. The hardest part (and I know from experience) is not the physical healing — it’s the mental game. Being patient. Being resilient. Finding that balance. This book explores this side of the comeback game, sharing stories from elite athletes and offering tools and advice to runners on the rebound.
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OK, we are done with the book recommendations! Onwards to some links and news you might be interested in.
Canadians Danielle Thiel, Brittany Moran finish 4th, 6th at California International Marathon
Two Canadians finished in the top 10 at the California International Marathon.
Danielle Thiel from Edmonton ran 2:35:18 to finish fourth.
Brittany Moran from Toronto ran 2:36:23 to finish sixth.
It looks like this race was Danielle’s marathon debut, she has no marathon PB on her World Athletics profile. It does show she was fit this year, as she ran a 1:15:19 half-marathon in May. Thiel is currently a med student at the University of Alberta.
Thiel began running the summer before Grade 4, when her father decided to train for Regina's Queen City Marathon and got the kids involved.
“As long as your run was farther than to the stop sign and back, when you got home, you got to open the mini fridge and have a Kool-Aid jammer or a juice box,” said Thiel.
“So that was kind of the motivation that got us all going.”
But it took more than the lure of a juice reward to lead Thiel to a competitive running career. She joined a track club in Grade 8 and says it was the social aspect that helped maintain her interest in the sport all the way through her university years, where she competed at the national level.
“A lot of my close friends were from running, so I got to go out every day and hang out with my friends, run with my friends.”
Moran ran a four-minute personal best — her previous mark was 2:40:46 from Chicago in 2017. The Toronto-based chiropractor and run coach also won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon earlier this fall. Brittany’s very active on social media and often gives running advice in Canadian Running and iRun, so if you know her name, that’s probably why.
The top Canadian man was Blair Morgan who finished 12th in 2:17:35.
You can see the full results here.
CIM was a place where a lot of American runners were going for an Olympic Trials qualifying time of sub-2:45. This time gets them an invite to the U.S. trials race on February 29, 2020. The top three at that race get to go to the Olympics.
This video from the finish line as woman after woman achieves their goal is delightful and totally made me cry:
The full OTQ finish line video is up on Facebook, if you want to feel even more emotions.
Krista DuChene was on the Women Run Canada podcast
Krista DuChene was on the most recent episode of the podcast Women Run Canada and it’s a good one. They cover Krista’s entire career including the highlights (third at Boston and the 2016 Olympics) and the lowlights (breaking her leg mid-race during a half-marathon but finishing anyway). It’s an excellent overview of Krista’s long and impressive career and offers great insight into her approach to running and life.
Listen to the full episode here.
A Canadian won the World Athletics’ award for fan photo of the year
World Athletics (formerly IAAF) held a contest online for the Fan Photo of the Year. Nominations could be submitted via social media and a panel of the three professional photographers who were nominated for photo of the year chose the fan photo category winner.
Canadian Dan Drozdowsky won the competition with his photo of the photo-finish 100m finals at the Canadian national track & field championships. Aaron Brown edged out Andre De Grasse to take the win, but as you can tell from the photo, declaring a winner was tough. Three one-thousandths of a second divided the two and it took several minutes post-race to determine the winner.
“I was always a runner — about six years ago I got a camera and would go to the local meets trying to take photos of the professionals and people I looked up to,” Drozdowsky said in the press release announcing his win. “I'm not competing now but just love the sport, which is why I go to meets and take photos.”
Drozdowsky won two trips to the Diamond League meets of his choice.
Trevor Hofbauer shared his off-season training with Canadian Running
Even elites take downtime. After his breakthrough 2:09, Canadian championship and Olympic-berth-securing run at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Trevor Hofbauer took it easy. He broke down exactly how he is spending his off-season for Canadian Running:
Time off–two weeks
The first thing Hofbauer does after a marathon is take two weeks off, and when he says off, he means it. “I don’t even stretch. I like to take two weeks to get away from the sport, to totally detach and take my mind off running.”
Easing back into it–four weeks
From there, Hofbauer will ease back into running for four weeks. His first week back he’ll get into some easy mileage, which includes four days of running anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes. From there, he’ll progress to six days of running a week, and slowly increase the mileage.
He always does a month of running before getting into any workouts. And while he’s doing his four weeks of running, he’s also going to the gym twice a week.
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot is back from injury, breaks Quebec indoor 5,000m record
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot raced for the first time in over a year at a meet at Boston University this weekend. He ran 13:30.79 in the 5,000m to place third and break the Quebec indoor 5,000m record by 26 seconds. The record has stood since 1986.
CPT has had a rough year. A stress fracture took him out, only to be followed by an Achilles injury. He didn’t run for six months.
CBC Sports covered the impressive comeback run:
"The most I have been able to compete healthy [since the 2016 Olympics] was three months of training and racing," Philibert-Thiboutot said in a blog post earlier this year. "I have this conviction deep inside me that I can be one of the best runners in the world.
"It is a dream that is still very much alive. … Just give me 12 months where I can be healthy, and who knows …"
Athletics Canada announced the 2020 PanAm cross-country games team
The 2020 PanAm cross-country championships will be held in Victoria, B.C., on February 29, 2020. The top six Canadians at the national championships all earned spots on the team — they just needed to tell Athletics Canada if they were going to accept them. You can read my recap of the national meet here.
The women’s senior team:
Geneviève Lalonde: The Canadian record holder in the steeplechase is the two-time Canadian cross-country champion and was the top Canadian at the world cross-country championships in 2019.
Natasha Wodak: The Canadian 10,000m record holder and PanAm gold medallist loves cross-country and couldn’t turn down an opportunity to read the red and white on home soil.
Maria Bernard-Galea: The Canadian steeplechaser and 2016 Olympian ran strong at the national championships and was the Canadian runner-up to Lalonde.
Victoria Coates: Victoria was the fifth Canadian, sixth overall at the national championships. She was on the 2017 Canadian cross-country team and represented Canada at the 2018 world half-marathon championships.
Kirsten Lee: Sixth Canadian, seventh overall. She ran for the University of British Columbia in college and currently trains with the BC Endurance Project.
Hannah Woodhouse: Eighth overall, seventh Canadian. She currently runs cross-country for the University of Guelph and was on the squad they sent to the USports national championships in November.
The men’s senior team:
Connor Black: Was the third Canadian at nationals. Black, who just graduated from the University of Guelph, was 2018 Canadian university cross-country champion.
John Gay: Placed fifth overall. He was a steeplechaser who just graduated from the University of British Columbia. He’s represented Canada on the world stage twice this summer: at the world cross-country championships as part of the mixed-relay team and at the world championships in Doha.
Brandon Allen: Allen, who came sixth, just graduated from Iona College.
Jean-Simon Desgagnés, who came seventh, studies medicine at the University of Laval. He is on their cross-country team.
Mitchell Ubene, who came eighth, was also second at the Canadian USports cross-country championship in November. He runs for the University of Guelph.
Kieran McDonald, who ran at the University of Alberta in college, came ninth overall at the national championships. He graduated in 2018.
The top two male finishers at nationals, Mike Tate and Luc Bruchet, are both not on this list. With 2020 being an Olympic year, my guess is they opted out to focus on nabbing their Olympic qualification.
You can see the full team, including the U20 athletes, at the Athletics Canada website.
That’s it for this week!
Next week’s issue will be a countdown of the top 10 moments in Canadian running in 2019. Then Run the North will take a break for the holidays, but will be back to kick off 2020 on Jan. 6.
If you want to reach out, my email address is runthenorthnews@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading and keep on running!