BOOK AWARDS
During lockdown I have been re-reading a lot of books and have come up with my magnificent seven; the top books in each category.
All the books I have ever read were considered for the awards. In future awards, books published in the previous twelve months will be considered and nominations sought from runners.
CATEGORIES
Best Running Story
Best Biography
Best Book for New Runners
Best Book of Races
Best Ultra Running Book
Best Non-running Book with Running in the Title
So, without out further delay and without the benefit of a drum roll followed by an extended silence here are the winners.
Best Running Story
Finding Gobi - Dion Leonard
An enchanting tale of a friendship between a runner and a dog who adopts him. You do not need to be a dog lover or a runner to like this book, you just need to be human.
Best Biography
Today We Die a Little – Richard Askwith
A biography of Emil Zatopek. Richard carried out a massive amount of research to produce this account of Emil’s life, both as an extraordinary runner and a citizen living under a changing communist regime. A fascinating read.
Best Book for New Runners
Running Life – Kelly Holmes
Strange that someone who produced, in my opinion, the two best Olympic track performances I have ever seen should write an excellent book for beginners. Running life refers to how to have a running life rather than Kelly’s life. For that read ‘Black, White & Gold’.
Best Coffee Table Book
Sky Runner - Emelie Forsberg
This is a serious running book, Emelie is a Salomon athlete and wins races, however, it also looks good and has some wonderful photographs taken by Kilian Jornet, author of Run or Die
Best Book of Races
The World’s Toughest Endurance Challenges – Richard Hoad and Paul Moore
This is like a big to-do list, with lots of tempting adventures between its pages. It was what started Dion Leonard’s multi-day racing activities which lead to the life-changing encounter with a dog in the Gobi Desert.
Best Ultra Running Book
The Rise of The Ultra Runners – Adharanand Finn
This is a very authentic account of the ultrarunning world, which just a few years ago was only populated by a few gnarly individuals (eccentrics). Adharanand concentrates on what could be called the mainstream, trail ultras, and the slightly more rarefied world of mountain running. However, he does touch on other areas; road ultras, fell races, multi-day events, track races, etc.
Best Non-running Book with Running in the Title
Running – Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie is a five-time World Snooker Champion, and this is his autobiography. Running helped him to fight his demons – addictive personality, depression, and more. Dr. Steve Peters taught him how not to run away when things got tough.
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