7 Running Books Our Team Believes You Need To Read

Last updated: 4 August, 2026

Our running films lists went down a treat, so we’re back, this time for the bookshelf!

In this list, we’ve included a bit of everything. A memoir, some sports science, a very famous novel and some stories about running that have you signing up for your next event before you get to the last chapter. Some you’ll finish in a weekend, others you’ll want to take your time with.

Here are seven running books we reckon are worth your time. Happy reading!

Born to Run

If you only ever read one running book, most people will point you here. It opens with a simple question, why does my foot keep hurting, and somehow ends deep in Mexico’s Copper Canyons with a hidden tribe who run huge distances for the pure joy of it. Part detective story, part adventure, part love letter to the sport. Fair warning, it has turned more couch dwellers into runners than any training plan going. Read it and try not to go hunting for your nearest trail race.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

A quieter one, and a bit of a mood. One of the world’s most celebrated novelists on what running has taught him about writing, discipline and getting older, all in his calm, slightly hypnotic way. He took up running in his thirties and never really stopped, and the whole thing reads like a long easy run where your mind drifts somewhere useful. Not much drama here, and that’s rather the point. Perfect for the runners who do their best thinking somewhere past halfway.

Let Your Mind Run

An Olympic medallist on the part most training plans skip, the story you tell yourself while you run. Deena Kastor was a gifted junior who kept falling short, until she rebuilt the way she thought and watched her results follow. It’s part memoir, part masterclass in optimism, and it never once tips into preachy. The one to reach for when your legs feel fine but your head keeps trying to talk you out of it.

Eat and Run

The ultra pick. Scott Jurek won some of the hardest races on earth, seven straight Western States titles among them, all on a plant based diet plenty of people swore couldn’t work. Half of it is his life story, the other half is how he fuelled it, recipes included. It’s honest about the low points too, the injuries and the doubt, not just the trophies. Read it and you’ll either want to enter a hundred miler or build a very large smoothie. Possibly both.

Once a Runner

The cult novel, and the one serious runners quote at each other. It follows Quenton Cassidy, a college miler chasing a sub four minute mile and giving up nearly everything to get there. Parker sold it out of the boot of his car for years before it became a classic, which feels about right for a book this stubborn. The racing scenes are so good you’ll forget you’re reading fiction. If you’ve ever chased a time that scared you a little, this one lands.

Endure

The science one, minus the dry bits. Alex Hutchinson digs into the question every runner eventually asks, how much of the wall is your body and how much is your brain. He roams from Nike’s sub two hour marathon project to what’s really happening in those last painful kilometres, and makes all of it genuinely good fun to read. Expect to come away with a few new tricks for the back half of your long run. Great for the curious runner who wants to know why, not just how.

Running Like a Girl

The funny, honest one, and maybe the most relatable on the list. Alexandra Heminsley was hopeless when she started and she hides none of the ugly early bits, the chafing, the walking breaks, the quiet wondering why anyone does this on purpose. It’s the story of going from can’t to can, one unglamorous run at a time. If you’re new to running, or you can still remember those first few weeks, you’ll spot yourself all over these pages. Proof that everyone starts somewhere.

Most of these are easy to track down at your local bookshop or library, and a few are crackers on audiobook if you’d rather take them out on a long run.

Finished a chapter and itching to run further?

Check out the running events happening across Australia on RunDais. Whether it’s your first 5km or your first ultra, there’s something out there for you: