The Rise of the Ultra Runners: A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance

by Adharanand Finn

*Shortlisted for the 2019 William Hill Sports Book of the Year*

Marathons are no longer enough.
Pain is to be relished, not avoided.
Hallucinations are normal.

Ultra running defies conventional logic. Yet this most brutal and challenging sport is now one of the fastest-growing in the world. Why is this? Is it an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness?

Adharanand Finn travelled to the heart of the sport to find out - and to see if he could become an ultra runner himself. His journey took him from the deserts of Oman to the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, and on to his ultimate goal, the 105-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc.

The Rise of the Ultra Runners is the electrifying, inspirational account of what he learned along the way. Through encounters with the sport's many colourful characters and his experiences of its soaring highs and crushing lows, Finn offers an unforgettable insight into what can be found at the boundaries of human endeavour.

• ISBN10: 1643131354
• ISBN13: 9781643131351
• Publish Date: 7 May 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Pegasus Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Heather]

I've talked on this blog a lot about how I hate running with a passion that is only equal to how much I love reading about running.  This book was perfect for me.  

The author decides to learn about ultrarunning by getting a press pass to run the UTMB, a ultramarathon in the mountains in France.  In order to use his pass, he has to qualify by getting enough points in other ultramarathons around the world.  His journey to learn to love (and survive) ultrarunning and his interviews with the people he meets along the way are the heart of this book. 

He covers the different types of ultrarunning - running 50-100 + miles at once, running a marathon every day for several days in a row, and running a short stretch of trail or on a track for 24 hours.  Each has its own challenges.  

He meets up with some of the best competitors and realizes that their lifestyles help them with their training.  One person lives in a cabin 5 miles up Pike's Peak.  There is no road.  You have to run in to get there and to leave.  Others travel the world racing the hardest trails and mountains they can find. 

He tries to talk top Kenyan marathoners into trying longer distances without a lot of success. 

He talks to coaches and health care providers about how to stay fit for this and whether all of this is ultimately healthy or not.

I loved this story.  I loved seeing what goes into pushing beyond marathon distance.   I would never do it but I liked reading other people's adventures. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story