Run the World

My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe

By: Becky Wade

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

From elite marathoner and Olympic hopeful Becky Wade comes the story of her year-long exploration of diverse global running communities from England to Ethiopia—9 countries, 72 host families, and over 3,500 miles of running—investigating unique cultural approaches to the sport and revealing the secrets to the success of runners all over the world.

Fresh off a successful collegiate running career—with multiple NCAA All-American honors and two Olympic Trials qualifying marks to her name—Becky Wade was no stranger to international competition. But after years spent safely sticking to the training methods she knew, Becky was curious about how her counterparts in other countries approached the sport to which she’d dedicated over half of her life. So in 2012, as a recipient of the Watson Fellowship, she packed four pairs of running shoes, cleared her schedule for the year, and took off on a journey to infiltrate diverse running communities around the world. What she encountered far exceeded her expectations and changed her outlook into the sport she loved.

Over the next twelve months—visiting 9 countries with unique and storied running histories, logging over 3,500 miles running over trails, tracks, sidewalks, and dirt roads—Becky explored the varied approaches of runners across the globe. Whether riding shotgun around the streets of London with Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt, climbing for an hour at daybreak to the top of Ethiopia’s Mount Entoto just to start her daily run, or getting lost jogging through the bustling streets of Tokyo, Becky’s unexpected adventures, keen insights, and landscape descriptions take the reader into the heartbeat of distance running around the world.

Upon her return to the United States, she incorporated elements of the training styles she’d sampled into her own program, and her competitive career skyrocketed. When she made her marathon debut in 2013, winning the race in a blazing 2:30, she became the third-fastest woman marathoner under the age of 25 in U.S. history, qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials and landing a professional sponsorship from Asics.

From the feel-based approach to running that she learned from the Kenyans, to the grueling uphill workouts she adopted from the Swiss, to the injury-recovery methods she learned from the Japanese, Becky shares the secrets to success from runners and coaches around the world. The story of one athlete’s fascinating journey, Run the World is also a call to change the way we approach the world’s most natural and inclusive sport.

Fantastic

A phenomenal listen on one woman's journey into the culture and practices of running from various different countries. I didn't want this listen to end. Each chapter ends with a recipe from each country that the author picked up in her travels. Well worth the purchase.

Easy, good story to listen to for runners.

Easy, good story to listen to for runners; especially runners who like travel stories too. While not an encyclopedia of running cultures and philosophies, she does a really good job describing the running scenes of the places she visited. Interesting to hear about the different ways people take interest in the sport.

terrible narrator. dont waste your money!

like listening to someone read stereo instructions. monotone and bitchy sounding. i hated her voice

A nice diversion

if you love running, travel and food, this is a fun travelogue. narration is good except mispronounciation of Vigil's name

Even if you Don't Run...

This book is a combination running memoir, travelogue, and memoir of food. It uses running as a backdrop, but is both about athleticism and about people.
Becky Wade has a truly engaging writing style, and has a rare gift of not tooting her own horn. She's a terrific athlete by many standards, but she doesn't run your nose in just HOW fast she can go. As a beginning runner, this is encouraging; my inexpeerience isn't shoved in my face.
The narrator does a terrific job, though she's not very strong on accents so she doesn't try too hard. It's refreshing for a narrator to know her strengths and leave her weaknesses alone.
Pick up this book!