Finding Your Next Track And Field Book

Finding Your Next Track And Field Book

Summaries of track and field inspired books.

Jun 11, 2020 by Jessica Todd
Finding Your Next Track And Field Book

Life in the past couple of months has been strange, to say the least. With quarantine and stay-at-home orders, it’s potentially given us a lot more free time on our hands. 

Maybe for some, this amount of free time is a new feeling or for others, it has felt like an old routine. Whichever category you fall into, maybe instead of binging a show or watching a new movie (or the same movie you’ve already seen about 500 times), decide to read instead. You can sit back, turn off the screens, and dive into a good book! 

There’s something really enjoyable about reading a book on your favorite athlete or sport. While nonfiction isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, there are some entertaining titles out there that cover so much more than just the sport itself. Some books cover historical moments that transport you to another time and others are filled with inspirational stories that tug at your heartstrings. In the end, there’s something for everybody. All you have to do is start with chapter one. 

Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

Synopsis: Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Synopsis: While training for the New York City Marathon, Haruki Murakami decided to keep a journal of his progress. The result is a memoir about his intertwined obsessions with running and writing, full of vivid recollections and insights, including the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, here is a rich and revelatory work that elevates the human need for motion to an art form.

What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan

Synopsis: What Made Maddy Run began as a piece that Kate Fagan, a columnist for espnW, wrote about Maddy's life. What started as a profile of a successful young athlete whose life ended in suicide became so much larger when Fagan started to hear from other college athletes also struggling with mental illness. This is the story of Maddy Holleran's life, and her struggle with depression, which also reveals the mounting pressures young people — and college athletes in particular — face to be perfect, especially in an age of relentless connectivity and social media saturation.

26 Marathons by Meb Keflezighi

Synopsis: 26 Marathons offers the wisdom Meb has gleaned about life, family, identity, and faith in addition to tips about running, training, and nutrition. He shows runners of all levels how to apply the lessons he's learned to their own running and lives. Equal parts inspiration and practical advice, 26 Marathons provides an inside look at the life and success of one of the greatest runners living today.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon by Kenny Moore

Synopsis: No man has affected more runners in more ways than Bill Bowerman. During his 24-year tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also ignited the jogging boom, invented the waffle-sole running shoe that helped establish Nike, and coached the US track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. With the full cooperation of the Bowerman family and Nike, plus years of taped interviews with friends, relatives, students, and competitors, two-time Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore — himself one of Bowerman's champion athletes — brilliantly re-creates the legendary track coach's life.

Whether track and field is your favorite sport or you just love really great stories, each of these books has something to offer. Because there are too many books to name, you can also hop over to the nearby bookstore or search the web to find the perfect next book to add to your queue!