Ultra running books/magazines

Galtee Runner

Hi guys. I am doing my first ultra in the Glen of Aherlow next September. I love trail running especially in the Galtees or on Sliabhnamuck hills .I spend most of the time reading blogs and websites but I am wondering do any of you have any ultra running or trail running books or magazines you no longer need. I have the book Fat Man to Green Man that I can post on to someone if they want it, free of charge. Thanks.

rom

http://trailrunnernation.com/podcasts/ great podcast. no interest in ultras but i listen to it.

pointer28

Another podcast at www.marathontalk.com, just go to the talk ultra page, once a fortnight and usually 3/4 hours long.

George Chinaglia

I know he gets a lot of stick, and the following books are really grating and annoying, but Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes is definitely worth a read. For trail running Feet in the Clouds by Richard Askwith is amazing, about fell running in England and a journalists burgeoning obsession with it.

You've probably already read it but Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, as well as just being a great story, has lots on trail and ultra running.

Enduro

George Chinaglia wrote: »

I know he gets a lot of stick, and the following books are really grating and annoying, but Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes is definitely worth a read.

:eek::eek::eek::eek: Avoid like the plague. He's a chancer of the highest order.

ThisRegard

Might not be exactly what you're looking for but Mud, Sweat and Tears by Moire O'Sullivan is a good read
http://www.amazon.com/Mud-Sweat-Tears-Journey-Self-Discovery-ebook/dp/B0054ZKYQQ

George Chinaglia

As I said, I know he gets a lot of stick I got about twenty pages into his follow up book and had to chuck it as it just felt like a QVC shill or some infomercial, and I know what the common opinion on him amongst most ultrarunners is, but when I was just starting to run I thought that first book was great.

average_runner

Enduro wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek: Avoid like the plague. He's a chancer of the highest order.

Hardly, might not be the best runner in the world, but still his books are decent.

The book about Death Valley is very good, different stories about each person race.

Scott Jurek book is good if you dont mind him pushing his diet alot within the book!!

Enduro

average_runner wrote: »

Hardly, might not be the best runner in the world, but still his books are decent.

Oh he's definitely a chancer. Claiming to have won races which he didn't. Avoiding racing against anyone and sticking with solo challenges so that he can appear better than he is. Basically publicising himself as possibly the fittest person on earth, when he is an average runner at best (But a superb self-publicist).

Maybe the books are a great read. There are plenty of fictional books that make for fantastic reading

TFBubendorfer

Trying to get back on topic.

Books I liked:
Relentless Forward Progress: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Relentless-Forward-Progress-Running-Ultramarathons/dp/1891369903/

Training for Ultra Running: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Ultra-Running-Andy-Milroy/dp/1780913249/

Magazines:

https://marathonandbeyond.com/
https://www.ultrarunning.com/


There are load of books about some guy (always a guy) running his first ultra. I'm sure they all sounded very worthwhile to the respective authors but those books are basically all the same ("got some crazy idea" - "trained a lot" - "got injured" - "ran the race anyway" - "was really tough and long" "amn't I great") and get tired very soon.

grahamor

George Chinaglia wrote: »

As I said, I know he gets a lot of stick I got about twenty pages into his follow up book and had to chuck it as it just felt like a QVC shill or some infomercial, and I know what the common opinion on him amongst most ultrarunners is, but when I was just starting to run I thought that first book was great.

I'd completely agree with you. Really enjoyed the first book and learned a lot about Western States etc.

Have not read follow up books but the 50 marathons/50 states film was beyond awful.

lynchieboy

A biography of Joss Naylor is a good read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joss-Legendary-District-Runner-Shepherd/dp/0955964016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401278007&sr=1-1&keywords=joss+naylor

HelenAnne

I really, really loved 'Feet in the Clouds' too. And I really enjoyed 'Eat & Run' by Scott Jurek (partly for all the vegan recipes!)

HelenAnne

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Trying to get back on topic.

Books I liked:
Relentless Forward Progress: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Relentless-Forward-Progress-Running-Ultramarathons/dp/1891369903/

Training for Ultra Running: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Ultra-Running-Andy-Milroy/dp/1780913249/

Magazines:

https://marathonandbeyond.com/
https://www.ultrarunning.com/


There are load of books about some guy (always a guy) running his first ultra. I'm sure they all sounded very worthwhile to the respective authors but those books are basically all the same ("got some crazy idea" - "trained a lot" - "got injured" - "ran the race anyway" - "was really tough and long" "amn't I great") and get tired very soon.

'Mud, Sweat & Tears' is about a woman (I know it's more mountain running than ultras, but just if anyone wanted a different perspective. I enjoyed it!)

statss

ThisRegard wrote: »

Might not be exactly what you're looking for but Mud, Sweat and Tears by Moire O'Sullivan is a good read
http://www.amazon.com/Mud-Sweat-Tears-Journey-Self-Discovery-ebook/dp/B0054ZKYQQ

great read.

TFBubendorfer

HelenAnne wrote: »

'Mud, Sweat & Tears' is about a woman (I know it's more mountain running than ultras, but just if anyone wanted a different perspective. I enjoyed it!)

MS&T clearly does not fall under the crap "I ran one ultra" category I was referring to.

HelenAnne

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

MS&T clearly does not fall under the crap "I ran one ultra" category I was referring to.

Sorry -- I misunderstood. I thought you were saying you couldn't find books that WEREN'T of the type you described so I was recommending it. I agree, MS&T isn't like that at all. Sorry, must have read your post wrongly.

Galtee Runner

Thanks for all the information about books and indeed podcasts, some very interesting reading and listening ahead of me no doubt. I asked in the opening post do any of you have ultra running books or magazines to pass on to an ultra running newbie. PM me if you like and we can sort payment, postage etc. Thanks.

Just as an aside regarding Dean Karnazes. Leaving out what people say about him cheating, not being a great runner etc. would his first book be good for someone like me who is new to the sport and can't get enough of it at the moment.

Enduro

My annswer would be that it would be similar to reading Lance Armstrong's books to learn about cycling.

A more general question for you... why are you looking for all this reading. Is it to try and pick up how to train etc for ultrarunning, or is it just for general entertainment about a subject you're interested in.

If it is the former then to a large extent you'd be wasting your time. There are pretty much as many opinions on ultrarunning training etc as there are ultrarunners. Mostly it comes down to figuring out what works best for you.

If it's the latter, and given that it's the trail aspect you're interested in, then I'd say to try and get hold of some of the classic English fell running books like Feet in the Clouds etc.

Personally, the best ultra material I've found has tended to be people's blogs etc.

Galtee Runner

Enduro wrote: »

A more general question for you... why are you looking for all this reading. Is it to try and pick up how to train etc for ultrarunning, or is it just for general entertainment about a subject you're interested in.

Thanks Enduro, I am interested in reading purely for entertainment. I am amazed that I never knew such a world existed but am probably more amazed that with a bit of hard work I too can be a part of it. I have spent hours looking on youtube, reading on various websites and forums and listening to podcasts etc. I love ultrarunning and I havent even done one yet.

Enduro

Good stuff! Actually, the best source of entertainment is talking to your fellow ultrarunners! It was tales of ultrarunning adventures from my hill-running friends that originally got me interested in trying the longer distance races. After that the internet really is a brilliant resouce, with so much material out there, from the blogs of the worlds best, to race reports from your peers.

One (non-trail) blog I would highly recommend for inspiration and entertainment is Tony Mangan's blog of his run around the world. Reading that from the start will give you plenty of material

maw368

Enduro wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek: Avoid like the plague. He's a chancer of the highest order.

A chancer? How is he a chancer in regards to ultramatathons when he has done loads. He might not be the fastest but still, its about the achievement and still inspiring to others. Besides that he has gone wicked distance
... even world legends like scott jurek who is fastest hasnt gone the distances Karnazes has.

You personally might not him but that does not devalue his SUCCESSES and others may draw motivation from him. Run my first 2 marathons from his inspiring books and the were early spontanous marathons because he boosted my belief... Didn follow a training plan for ages to a set date that allowed mental readiness

Krusty_Clown

maw368 wrote: »

A chancer? How is he a chancer in regards to ultramatathons when he has done loads. He might not be the fastest but still, its about the achievement and still inspiring to others. Besides that he has gone wicked distance
... even world legends like scott jurek who is fastest hasnt gone the distances Karnazes has.

He's all Baywatch and no substance.

ultrapercy

maw368 wrote: »

A chancer? How is he a chancer in regards to ultramatathons when he has done loads. He might not be the fastest but still, its about the achievement and still inspiring to others. Besides that he has gone wicked distance
... even world legends like scott jurek who is fastest hasnt gone the distances Karnazes has.

You personally might not him but that does not devalue his SUCCESSES and others may draw motivation from him. Run my first 2 marathons from his inspiring books and the were early spontanous marathons because he boosted my belief... Didn follow a training plan for ages to a set date that allowed mental readiness

Its great that you were inspired and motivation is a very personal thing take it where you can get it. Enduro like myself believes that DK is not worth the hyperbole and adulation he awards himself. Endouro himself is a far more accomplished ultrarunner than DK, without the nonsense.

TFBubendorfer

maw368 wrote: »

A chancer? How is he a chancer in regards to ultramatathons when he has done loads

For example: when someone claims to have won a race that he came second in then the guy is definitely a chancer.

Killerz

I'm quite a fan of this one myself: http://www.amazon.com/Running-Through-Wall-Encounters-Ultramarathon/dp/1891369377

A collection of shorter accounts from the well-known to the not-so-well-known ultra runners.

Enduro

maw368 wrote: »

A chancer? How is he a chancer in regards to ultramatathons when he has done loads. He might not be the fastest but still, its about the achievement and still inspiring to others. Besides that he has gone wicked distance
... even world legends like scott jurek who is fastest hasnt gone the distances Karnazes has.

You personally might not him but that does not devalue his SUCCESSES and others may draw motivation from him. Run my first 2 marathons from his inspiring books and the were early spontanous marathons because he boosted my belief... Didn follow a training plan for ages to a set date that allowed mental readiness

Others have answered this already, but since its a reply to one of my posts I'll chip in.

There are plenty of people on this site who have done loads of ultramarathons. There is nothing astounding in his "achievements". Follow the link I posted above to read the exploits of one Irishman, Tony Mangan, who has run much much much further than DK, and would be recognised by his peers as the genuine article. 40,000km in one rather long running exploit is pretty long I'd say. Put's DK's "wicked" distances in perspective for sure.

He is a chancer because his self-publicity makes him out to be one of the fittest people on the planet. He isn't. He isn't anywhere near it. To try and maintain the illusion to as many people as possible, and keep the money flowing he does all sorts of crap. Read this article from sports illustrated. That's only the outline of the story. The details really show the levels he will stoop to. There isn't anyway I can "devalue" someone who works at that level.

I've met many top class American international ultrarunners. Every single time he comes up in conversation, without exception, it's basically as a running joke, pardon the pun.

Plenty of people have run A LOT further than Dean Karanzes. Plenty of people have gone a lot faster than him whilst doing so. Very few, if any of them, will have covered their torso in as much body oil as he has to ensure that the publicity shots look suitably "heroic".

Look at his claimed achievements. He never races in any event where he might go up against good runners. Mostly he makes up solo challenges which look good on paper, and where no-one will show up just how far away from the world class runner his self-publicity proclaims he is. To give a nice contrast between Scott Jurek, who you mentioned, and DK... Dean invagled his way onto the American team for the world 24 Hour running championships a few years ago. If you count all the Females in the results, he came second last. Jurek was selected by the Americans about 4 years ago. In his debut 24 hour race he was 2nd in the world champs, and smashed the American record. That's the difference between empty bluster and genuine class.

Famously in the ultrarunning world, Yiannis Kouros (A genuine legend of ultrarunning who has run much further and much faster than Dean Karanzes, and who would be regarded by a large number of knowledgable people as the greatest ultrarunner alive), has a standing challenge that he will race Dean over any distance and course of Dean's choosing. In 20 years or so Dean has never had the guts to take on this simple challenge (Which is no surprise if you know the character we're dealing with here).

Other's draw motivation from him. Similarly a huge number of people drew motivation from Lance Armstrong.. some still do!