Allan's top 5 Running Books

I have decided to do a feature where I 'review' (well review is maybe a bit of an over statement) my favourite running books, all of which can easily be bought on Amazon Books:

1. In Quest of Gold: The Jim Ryun Story

This book about running legend Jim Ryun is the most inspirational running book you will ever read. Ryun's story is maybe not as well known as Prefontaine's (for example) however in my eyes it is equally, if not more impressive. Along with his coach, Bob Timmons, Ryun re-wrote what could be expected of a teenager in terms of training, endurance and in competition. 

2. Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher and the University of Colorado Men's Cross-country Team

In this documentary style book Chris Lear follows the cross-country season of the University of Colorado’s cross-country team. You get to experience their epic training regimes and the trials and tribulations of their races.  The twists and turns you come across in this book sometimes make you doubt that it is fact not fiction. A must read for any runner!

3. The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story

Jim Denison’s book The Greatest is the story of undoubtedly one of the greatest human beings ever to have lived, Haile Gebrselassie. The book charts Haile life from his routes in rural Africa to his repeated World domination over every distance from 5,000m to the Marathon. Call yourself a runner? Then read this book!

4. Pre: Story of America's Greatest Running Legend Steve Prefontaine

Known as the ‘running Beatle’ Steve Prefontaine was the first (and maybe the only) long distance runner to cross the line from well know runner into international celebrity. Allow not the greatest runner of all time, Pre was certainly one of the most interesting athletes ever to have lived, and if his life had not been cut short so tragically who knows what he may have achieved. 

5. The Perfect Distance: Ovett and Coe: The Record Breaking Rivalry

Athletics has never seen (and is unlikely to see again) a rivilary to match that of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett. Together Coe and Ovett re-wrote the middle distance record books in the 1980s. Their different family backgrounds and clashing personalities makes for one of athletics story greatest ever stories ever told.