Is there any halfway decent literature about running?

I appreciate someone who is discerning about what they read. I'm that way myself. Sometimes for me it has more to do with where I'm at in life/thought than the book. There have been classics that I started 3-4 times but put down after a couple of pages. Then a year or two later picked it up, read it straight through and thought it was one of the best things I ever read. It was just that book's time. I would put The Perfect Mile at the top of the pile for a compelling story well written, similar to a Hillenbrand book.

There are few running novels. I published The River Road last year and it has been well received, including a nomination for 2017 Track & Field Writers of America book of the year. You may or may not like it - every book isn't for everyone. But I like to think it reaches the standard of halfway decent literature. I would be happy to send you a free signed copy. You can contact me on my website coachbarker.com.

Sincerely,

Dennis Barker

Try: Flanagan's Run

An oldie, but goodie.

I agree that a lot of writing on running is pretty mediocre, but there are some great (and underappreciated) recommendations in this thread. (Definitely agree on Frank Murphy's Buddy Edelen biography! I also enjoyed his "The Silence of Great Distance.") My favorite is "Life at These Speeds" by Jeremy Jackson. It's beautifully written. Someone recently made a movie based on it, but I'm afraid to watch it.

I also highly recommend "Best Efforts" by Kenny Moore, which is a collection of some of his writing. Great stuff. Oh, and "Why Die?" by Graem Sims about Percy Cerutty is also very good.

Haruki Murakami, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running"

I know it's probably not a favorite on these boards and it sensationalized the ultra running scene, but I really enjoyed "Born to Run." Even though I thought some of the "running ultramarathons wills save humanity" was definitely overblown and self-helpy, it was pretty good writing.

theproxywar wrote:

I thought Once A Runner was utter garbage. There's no way I would read another of his books.

People say this and I don't get it. I've read it, the sequel and the prequel and I don't see how any semi-competitive runner could not at least find the race scenes worth the price of admission.

Don't take offense just because you never broke 4:30 for the mile.

Another big vote for Best Efforts by Moore.

Wonderful writing across a breadth of topics in elite track and road racing. It's amazing to see the parallels between the struggles and controversies surrounding the sport he describes then (70s and 80s) and now. Corruption in the governing bodies and the IOC, athlete livelihoods, and the diverse relationships between competitors are threads that will likely never leave the sport. Timeless gold!

Chris Leer's "Running with The Buffaloes" is fairly outstanding. A chronicle of a season with Mark Wetmore's CU men. I dont know that anything really captures what it's like to live the life of a high level collegiate runner better. The way Chris tells the story is great.

He also wrote "Sub-4" chronicling Alan Webb's freshman (and only) year in Ann Arbor.

"Running with the Hanson's" by our boy Sage. Just a few typos tho...

I really liked "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder" by Kenny Moore. It's well written, quite funny and tells both positive and negative sides about Nike. (I'm one of those Nike haters here...)

I recently read a novel called Blind Sight by Meg Howrey. It's not about running. But the narrator is a guy entering his senior year of high school who's on the cross country team. I didn't know that when I bought the book--I liked one of the author's other novels and thought I'd try another--but was pleasantly surprised at how well she incorporated his running into the story. There were no places where the depiction of running was cringeworthy, and her description of his running helped develop the character.

This sort of thing has been what I've long wished for--that a character be a runner, and that it's significant in understanding the character, but that running not be central to the plot (because then you'll almost always wind up with THE BIG RACE as the climax).

There is a new book out in Indiana where the authors interviewed 19 of the best cross country coaches in state history. A really cool read that gets inside the mind of great coaches.

https://www.amazon.com/Enduring-Wisdom-Lessons-Indianas-Championship/dp/1545577005/

Becky Wade's "Run The World" is a good read. It's more of a travelogue based around running and food than what you probably mean by "literature." But she does a good job of conveying the feeling it was for her, as a recent college grad, to venture out into the world by using running as an ice-breaker to get a taste of a variety of global cultures.

The Purple Runner is a good read.

Anything by George Sheehan. (The Essential Sheehan, Running & Being) And Malcolm Gladwell hasn't written a book on running yet, but he should.

theproxywar wrote: I thought Once A Runner was utter garbage. There's no way I would read another of his books.

"Once a Runner" was certainly little more than brain candy, but to call it garbage is a little harsh (and smacks of pseudo-intellectual condescension). I found it entertaining and an easy read; likewise with the prequel and sequel.

If you didn't find OAR to be "decent" then the answer to your original question is no.

Lhis Ceer wrote:

Chris Leer's "Running with The Buffaloes" is fairly outstanding. A chronicle of a season with Mark Wetmore's CU men. I dont know that anything really captures what it's like to live the life of a high level collegiate runner better. The way Chris tells the story is great.

He also wrote "Sub-4" chronicling Alan Webb's freshman (and only) year in Ann Arbor.

Yeah I liked both of these and have read them multiple times. Used to read Buffaloes during XC and Sub 4 during track.

Once a Runner is great and Again to Carthage is pretty decent, though significantly lesser than the former.

I liked "The Olympian" by Brian Glanville although it's been a while since I read it.

I remember it had some pretty interesting, flawed characters and was overall kind of depressing. 2 thumbs up!

"Pain" By Dan Middleman

"Chasing Ghosts" By Phillip J Reilly

Neither are perfect, but they're both decent reads.

I enjoyed "The Olympian" also. One of my favorites is a book Jack Foster wrote back in the early '70's called "Tale of The Ancient Marathoner". Jack competed for New Zealand in the Olympics and won several big marathons and set a best around 2:11 when he was 40 yrs old. He also held the world record for 20 miles on the track. His book includes a lot of observation about the top runners of his time who he competed against.

I'm sure the book is long out of print but the last I checked Amazon had some used copies.