Summer Readings: if you're looking for the right motivation, here we are with the most iconic books about ultra running

Are you an ultra runner?
Even if the answer is “no”, we have the best books to read for bring your motivation at its highest level, and make you want to start running, and running and running.
Find below our 5 favourite readings about endurance, perseverance and ultra distances. Enter in the off-road mood in the best way possible!

1. Born to Run, Christopher McDougall
Kept in the New York Times Best Seller List for more than four months, the book written in 2009 by the American author and journalist, is one of the most iconic books about ultra running.
Christopher McDougall leads the reader to the discovery of the ultramarathon discipline, from the founding fathers and the reclusive Tarahumara Native Mexican tribe in the Mexican Copper Canyons, to the "young gun" then became the most representative ultra-runners of our time that share the Tarahumara spirit of running for enjoyment and spiritual experience: Scott Jurek, Jenn Shelton and of course ... also our Tony Krupicka!

2. Eat and Run, Scott Jurek
True cult for all the ultra trail lovers and fans of its magical culture, Eat and Run is an inevitable title in the collection of any true ultra-enthusiast. With an incomparable Palmares, Scott Jurek doesn’t need many presentations, being able to win all the most iconic races in this field: from the Western States Endurance Run (7 in a row), Spartathlon, Hardrock 100, to Badwater 135 Miles Ultramarathon.
Scott is also a major advocate of vegan lifestyle and culture, which has not only helped him reaching the highest levels in his discipline but has also led him to delve into the topic of nutrition and cooking. At the end of each chapter, you will find some of his most famous recipes and useful tips for approaching the race with appetizing and healthy snacks.

3. Ultramarathon man, Dean Karnazes
Personal and detailed experiences of life and running, it's impossible to not admire the Dean Karnazes’s tenacity in pushing his body to reach one extreme goal after another.
Ultramarathon Man is his personal story enclose into a book: the mind-boggling adventures of his nonstop treks through the hell of Death Valley, the frigidity of the South Pole and the beauty of the mountains and canyons of the Sierra Nevada, running 262 miles-the equivalent of ten marathons-without rest.
This book has inspired thousands of people (runners and not) to push themselves beyond their comfort zones. If you read it, you’ll feel the desire of start running, no matter what, and the motto "When you can't run, walk. When you can't walk, crawl" will continue to echo in your mind.

4. What I talk about, when I talk about running, Haruki Murakami
A series of personal essays about writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, wrote by the Japanese bestselling author Haruki Murakami.
While simply training for a marathon would be enough for most people, Haruki Murakami’s decided to write about it as well. The result is a deep memoir about his obsessions with his two passions, full of vivid memories and insights (including the moment when he decided to become a writer). By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich, revelatory, and unique in its personal style.

5. Runner: A short story about a long run, Lizzy Hawker
If you like to dream big, the 5 times winner of UTMB Lizzy Hawker will enthuse, inspire and amaze you with her novel. Runner tells Lizzy’s story and uncovers a journey of physical, mental and emotional challenges that every runner goes through at the edge of human endurance.
Page after page, the journey deep into the mind and heart of one of the greatest mountain runners in the world, will catch your attention at all, feeling like you could be running alongside her. Less an autobiography and more simply ‘Lizzy’s story’, she shares her joy, her pain and the challenges of her life writing from the heart and catching the spirit of trail running and putting it down on paper.