Ultimate Runner Book Review

Have you heard of Runners' Lounge? It's a pretty cool place where you can interact with runners from all over the place. In addition, the creators, Amy and Tom, are all about getting to know your runners of all types. From the person who does run/walk 5Ks to the person who runs super-fast marathons.

Together Amy and Tom decided they wanted to create a book to celebrate all these runners that were sharing there stories in the Runners' Lounge. So they teamed up with a publisher and The Ultimate Runner was born!

I was lucky enough to receive a free copy of this book from Amy and Tom and they asked me to share my review with all my readers. I started it last week and even though I'm an admittedly fast reader I can tell you that it would be a quick and fun read for anyone who likes running. Especially those of you out there that like to read blogs.

Imagine if someone combined your favorite blog posts about why someone runs or her most memorable race and put them into book form. And then, just to top it all off, added helpful information about cross-training, nutrition, stretching, and injuries. What a great idea, right?

Well, that's what The Ultimate Runner does. The first part of the book is divided into sections talking about the emotional, the physical, the social, the memorable and all the other aspects of running that inspire us to get out there. The second part is devoted to advice from fitness and running experts.

I truly believe that any runner, aspiring runner, or family of a runner would find at least one story in this book that he or she could relate to. Whether it's the story about the woman who tried running only to decide she makes a better support team for her running family or the story about the woman who does Ironman triathlons. Or the story about the people who run after a cancer diagnosis or just because they need something to make them feel alive even when they're healthy. There really is something in there for everyone.

Some of the expert advice might be repetitive for anyone whose read more than one issue of Runners' World or hung around any online running forum so I admit that I sort of skimmed that part. But, you never know what you don't know so there's always a chance you'll learn something new.

I think my only criticism is that I wanted more stories of runners! Also, since I'm sure that Amy and Tom found many of these stories via blog submissions I would have liked to see some acknowledgment of whether or not the authors had blogs I could go check out. Thankfully they are doing some of that over in the Lounge and I can understand why, editorially, they didn't include links to blogs that might not be there permanently. But, still, would have been nice.

Regardless, it was a nice, easy read that left me with a few gems to think about the next time I'm in need of some inspiration.

If you're interested in checking it out yourself, it's available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders. Or you can ask your local independent bookstore or public library to see about ordering a copy.