The 5 Top Running Books to read this January

While many of us are using January to loose those few pounds we gained over the Christmas, it is also a great time of the year to catch up on reading. We have been reading a number of books over the past few weeks, and here are our top 5 running books for January.

5 Top Running Books to read

Running with the Kenyans: Discovering the secrets of the fastest people on earth

By Adharanand Finn

This is a book I actually listened to going to and from work on Audible. After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world's biggest long-distance races, Adharanand Finn sets out to discover what it was that made them so fast - and to see if he could keep up.

Packing up his family, he moved to Iten, Kenya, the running capital of the world, and started investigating. Was it running barefoot to school, the food, the altitude, or something else? At the end of his journey he put his research to the test by running his first marathon, across the Kenyan plains.

Running For My Life: How I built a better me one step at a time

By Rachel Cullen

Most of the books I read, I read on my phone or iPad. I didn't know what to expect from Rachel Cullen's honest book, Running for My Life.

Throughout her life, Rachel Cullen followed a simple yet effective route straight to mental health misery. Suffering from bipolar disorder, and hungry for approval at any price, she settled for flunked relationships, an ill-fitting career, and poor health to match.

Whilst mindlessly seeking a utopian vision of 'normality' that she was mis-sold and so desperate to achieve, the solution seemed increasingly illusive.

Stuck in this endless cycle of disappointment with her life, and not knowing how to handle the strain of her mental illness, she put on a pair of old trainers.

She'd never been able to think of herself as a 'runner', and the first time she forced herself out the door, she knew it would hurt. Everywhere. She just didn't realise how much it would heal her, too.

Interspersed with Rachel's real diary entries, from tortuous teen years to eventually running the London Marathon,Running for my Life will make you laugh, cry, and question whether you really can outrun your demons.

Your Pace or Mine?: What Running Taught Me About Life, Laughter and Coming Last

By Lisa Jackson

Lisa Jackson is a surprising cheerleader for the joys of running. Formerly a committed fitness-phobe, she became a marathon runner at 31, and ran her first 56-mile ultramarathon aged 41. And unlike many runners, Lisa's not afraid to finish last – in fact, she's done so in 20 of the 90-plus marathons she's completed so far.

But this isn't just Lisa's story, it's also that of the extraordinary people she’s met along the way – tutu-clad fun-runners, octogenarians, 250-mile ultrarunners – whose tales of loss and laughter are sure to inspire you just as much as they've inspired her.

This book is for anyone who longs to experience the sense of connection and achievement that running has to offer, whether you're a nervous novice or a seasoned marathoner dreaming of doing an ultra.

An account of the triumph of tenacity over a lack of talent, Your Pace or Mine? is proof that running really isn't about the time you do, but the time you have!

Scream if You Want to Run FASTER

By Julie Creffield

Scream if you want to Run Faster dispels the myth that improving your running speed as a plus sized runner is impossible...or even remotely difficult.

With a simple change in attitude and a new found belief that you can actually improve this book with its 7 simple techniques will absolutely transform your pace and running confidence...and in just 60 days.

This book also helps you to identify the villains in the running world and highlights the unhelpful barriers we place upon ourselves when it comes to speed and running confidence, and absolutely forbids you to use the S word ever again.

The techniques in this book were tested on 100 women from the Fat Girls Guide to Running community, and the results were incredible, with most women who completed the programme knocking 5% off their time, but many smashed this eliminating between 5 and 10 minutes off of their initial 5k baseline times.

The diary of an average runner: Never, ever, give up

By Mark Cameron

Such and entertaining read, Mark digs deep within himself and shows the true spirit of an ultra-runner. An inspiration to everyone showing it's all about mind over matter.

I enjoyed the book from the moment I started to read it. It is easy to get into and I could relate to some of Mark's experience's.

Initially the story of his first year of entering running races, the high's of taking part, the low's of getting injured.