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The Rise of the Ultra Runners
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Sports & Outdoors, Extreme Sports
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Ultramarathons don't leave much room for mistakes. Don't learn the hard way: Get a jump on training for an ultramarathon with Hal Koerner's Field Guide to Ultrarunning, a comprehensive handbook to running 30 to 100 miles and beyond, authored by one of the most experienced and recognized athletes in the sport.
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Publisher's Summary
Once the reserve of only the most hardcore enthusiasts, ultra running is now a thriving global industry, with hundreds of thousands of competitors each year. But is the rise of this most brutal and challenging sport - with races that extend into hundreds of miles, often in extreme environments - an antidote to modern life, or is it a symptom of a modern illness?
In The Rise of the Ultra Runners, award-winning author Adharanand Finn travels to the heart of the sport to investigate the reasons behind its rise and discover what it takes to join the ranks of these ultra athletes. Through encounters with the extreme and colorful characters of the ultramarathon world, and his own experiences of running ultras everywhere from the deserts of Oman to the Rocky Mountains, Finn offers a fascinating account of people testing the boundaries of human endeavor.
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What listeners say about The Rise of the Ultra Runners
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brandon S. Galvez
- 07-27-19
Loved it!
Ultra found me a year ago (today!) As I type this (3:45AM) I’m about to enter my first 53 mile race (after several 50k’s this past year.) I live in the blue mountains of eastern Oregon and last summer someone mentioned a race in the mountains near our house. After my first race I was hooked! This book really captures my/our ultrarunning experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and feel like there are excerpt I could have someone read that really describe in PERFECT detail what I/we am/are experiencing out there in the mountains and why the sport is becoming so popular.
9 people found this helpful
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- book smart
- 07-26-19
Wow - Fantastic!
Not sure what I expected when I downloaded this book, but wow, this was awesome!
I’m not an ultra runner (yet, perhaps), but an avid slow runner that’s been listening to more books about running and ultras lately as it fascinates me. I was just blown away by how good this story was. I always wanted to be listening to it at every opportunity I had! Very well written and performed - easily one of my favorites now!
9 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 06-26-19
Great book but didn't enjoy the narrator
The story is excellent but I'm afraid the narrator's attempts to do the accents and voices of the individual people in the book spoiled it to an extent
4 people found this helpful
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- Still Lettos
- 09-24-20
Excellent & Narration not an issue
I almost didn’t buy this book because of the reviews that talked about narration - but I’m glad I did! I didn’t struggle with the narration/voice at all, and I consider myself picky. I really appreciated that Finn dove into the world of ultramarathons himself, talking about his mental and physical journey just as much as his interviews with other ultra runners. I didn’t want this book to end, by the end it was like having a new friend.
3 people found this helpful
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- Samuel
- 06-20-19
Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Narrator added an element of authenticity that made listening to it FUN! As someone who has recently undertaken the Ultra Running Journey, I feel this book captivates the essence of the sport in ways only someone who has experienced it can describe! I give it a solid 5 Stars!
3 people found this helpful
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- Clay E.
- 08-30-21
loved it!
loved it! I really liked the variety of topics covered, blended with stories of other runners, blended with his own experience along the journey of his ultra race season. This style made for a very engaging book from start to finish! :)
2 people found this helpful
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- Vickie Collins
- 09-10-20
Decide for yourself
I'm glad I didn't let some of the reviews I read deter me from listening to this book. Loved it.
2 people found this helpful
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- Dan
- 05-23-19
Great book, really bad narration
I’m not sure why the narrator has to scream every quote... but i loved the book!
5 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-09-21
I eventually liked it
the narrator isn't right for this type of book. he's fine for LOTR or something like that, but too proper for a book about ultra running.
1 person found this helpful
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- dd71
- 06-24-21
Expected better from Finn. Horrible narrator
I really enjoyed Finn's books on Kenyan and Japanese runners. Both combined Finn's fish out of water character with genuine insight into the cultures of two top marathoning nations and some of the individuals within. This time around Finn himself is front and center of the story, and unfortunately his ego came a little too much to the fore. I also disliked the amount of content dedicated to thoughts and opinions garnered from social media groups. I stuck with it through the end, and perhaps my disappointment was because my expectations were so high after the prior two books. However, my biggest issue is with the narrator. He used his English accent throughout, not just to speak for Finn but he also used that same voice for the multitude of nationalities whose paths Finn crossed with one exception: the narrator decides to cut into a colonial caricature version of an Irish accent - the kind of voice that even Lucky Charms cereals would reject for cultural sensitivity. Every other nationality represented in the book was afforded the courtesy of the narrator's regular accent. I found this voice and the decision to use it to be horribly offensive.
1 person found this helpful
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- paul sparks
- 05-11-19
Awful narration
I really enjoyed the authors previous audiobooks and was waiting with anticipation to listen to the latest book, the narrator really didn’t suit this story, I could not listen past the first few chapters and will now purchase the book on Kindle instead
2 people found this helpful
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- Tamas Lorincz
- 05-28-19
Makes you want to put on your shoes and head for the nearest mountain
Loved every minute of Adharanand’s journey from ODM to UTMB and the colourful cast of inspiring characters he met along his ultra journeys. The descriptions of joy, pain, suffering, despair and elation sounded all too familiar and inviting to expose myself to new challenges.
I found myself shouting out encouragement, shedding tears of joy and relief as I was trodding along and listening to this great story, running every mile, dwelling in every pain cave.
A great book for anyone even mildly interested in the “ultra mindset”.
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- Kaz
- 05-14-19
utterly outstanding.
Absolutely fantastic book. Iv now listened to it 8 times and thats not me exaggerating.haha
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- Anonymous User
- 05-14-19
Authentic for an ultra runner
I’ve run 1000kms a month for ten years. Love ultra running, love the trails. Like many have a passion for the ultramarathon man and born to run. I think this is the first ultrarunning book to rival the two above titles. Great people interviewed, interesting perspectives. I also shed a tear whilst running when UTMB was completed: well done