SISTER MADONNA BUDER is 80 years old, has run more than 340 triathlons, and doesn’t know what all the fuss is about. In The Grace to Race, she shares the no-nonsense spirit and deep faith that inspired her extraordinary journey from a prominent St. Louis family to a Catholic Convent and finally to championship finish lines all over the world.As a beautiful young woman, she became an elegant equestrian and accomplished amateur actress. But as she describes in this intimate ...

In 1997 journalist Karin Evans walked into an orphanage in southern China and met her new daughter, a beautiful one-year-old baby girl. In this fateful moment Evans became part of a profound, increasingly common human drama that links abandoned Chinese girls with foreigners who have traveled many miles to complete their families.At once a compelling personal narrative and an evocative portrait of contemporary China, The Lost Daughters of China has also served as an invalua...

A New York Times bestselling author takes readers inside the Ironman triathlon.As he did so masterfully in his New York Times bestseller, The Gatekeepers, Jacques Steinberg creates a compelling portrait of people obsessed with reaching a life-defining goal. In this instance, the target is an Ironman triathlon-a 2.4-mile open-water swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, then finally a 26-mile marathon run, all of which must be completed in...

An incredible but true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations everOn the night before he was to turn forty, Rich Roll experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary life was taking him—and he woke up.Plunging into a new routine that prioritized a plant-based lifestyle and daily training, Rich mo...

'Run until you can't run anymore. Then run some more. Find a new source of energy and will. Then run even faster.' The words of Scott Jurek, a dominant force - and darling - in the gruelling and growing sport of ultrarunning for more than a decade. In 1999, as a complete unknown, he took the lead in the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile jaunt over the Gold Rush trails of America's Sierra Nevada. He went on to win that race seven years in a row. Jurek was also one of the elite runner...

Some people run for weight loss, general fitness, or the ability to eat whatever they want. In The Summit Seeker, Vanessa Runs explores trail and ultra running on an emotional, psychological, and spiritual level.Vanessa started running to battle her demons, to heal her deepest wounds, and ultimately, to find her peace in the mountains. Her vivid descriptions of spectacular trails call you into wild places where you will find rugged beauty, expansive wilderness, and deep personal in...

In "Chasing the Runner's High", Ray Charbonneau tells the story how he pushed his addiction to running up to, and then past, his limits. There are plenty of hard miles, but there's lots of fun along the way too as Ray shares what he learned, what he should have learned, and what he still has to learn from running.Marshall Ulrich, 4-time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon and author of "Running on Empty", calls Chasing the Runner's High "a look at one man's life and obsession with...

**NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The astonishing and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run. An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?“Equal parts quest, physiology treatise, and running history.... The climactic race reads like a sprint.... It simply makes you want to run.” —Outside Magazine**Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of mil...

The Marathon des Sables is billed as the toughest footrace on Earth. It consists of around 150 miles of running across scorching desert plains and peaks, in temperatures soaring above 40 degrees C. As if the distance, the heat and the terrain were not enough, the whole race must be completed carrying all the food and kit required for the seven days of the event. The Marathon des Sables is an incredible event. The single biggest piece of advice that I received during my preparatio...

Are you ready to be inspired? This book contains amazing tales of extreme endurance from athletes around the globe. These aren't pros or elites these are everyday people who decided to step outside their comfort zone and attempt to achieve the extraordinary. You'll get to read stories that include:- An amateur athlete's emotional journey through his first 50 mile race.- An amazing weight loss journey that resulted in crossing the Ironman finish line with jus...

While flicking through some photographs of a holiday in the Caribbean in 2009 Craig Jordan was appalled by what he saw, an overweight out of shape middle aged man on a very slippery slope. Craig decided there and then on a campaign to get Fit for Fifty and this became his mantra but the question was which sport? Over the next few months he was a regular visitor in the gym and went out and bought a mountain bike but nothing seemed to inspire and getting the journey to get fit seemed destine...

Pheidippides did it once and became a legend. Brian Mills did it over 800 times...but you might be forgiven for not knowing who he is. He is a runner and 'it' is the marathon - all 26 miles and 385 yards of it - and for some people, once is not enough. Brian Mills is rumoured to have a butterfly tattoo for each of his 800 plus efforts. And Brian is not the only one who has notched up three digits of gruelling athletic endeavour. The 100 Marathon Club, also known as the Hell's Angels of Run...