Runner's High

How a Movement of Cannabis-Fueled Athletes Is Changing the Science of Sports

By: Josiah Hesse

Narrated by: Josiah Hesse

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind meets Christopher McDougall's Born to Run in this immersive, investigative look at the hidden culture of cannabis use among elite athletes (as well as weekend warriors) - and the surprising emerging science behind the elusive, exhilarating "runner's high" they all seek.

Pot makes exercise fun. The link between performance enhancement and cannabis has been an open secret for many years, so much so that with the wide-sweeping national legalization of cannabis, combining weed and working out has become the hottest new wellness trend.

Why, then, is there still a skewed perception around this leafy substance that it only produces the lazy, red-eyed stoner laid out on a couch somewhere, munching on junk food? In fact, scientists have conducted extensive research that uncovers the power of the "runner's high" - the true holy grail of aerobic activity that was long believed to be caused by endorphins. In an extraordinary reversal, scientists believe marijuana may actually be the key to getting more Americans off their phones and onto their feet.

In Runner's High, seasoned investigative journalist Josiah Hesse takes listeners on a journey through the secret world of stoned athletes, describing astounding, cannabis-inspired physical and mental transformations, just like he experienced. From the economics of the $20 billion CBD market to the inherent inequalities in the enforcement of marijuana prohibition; from the mind-body connection behind the "runner's high" to the best way to make your own cannabis-infused power bars; Runner's High takes this groundbreaking science out of the lab and onto the trail, court, field, and pitch, fundamentally changing the way we think about exercise, recovery, and cannabis.

©2021 Josiah Hesse (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A major, groundbreaking book on cannabis.” (High Times)

“A stimulating survey of recent changing attitudes toward cannabis use in athletics.... Hesse is at his best explaining the hypocrisy of criminalizing pot — while other potentially dangerous substances are legal — and how to use it responsibly. This enlightening deep-dive into the benefits of lighting up may even win over skeptics.” (Publishers Weekly)

“[A] work of advocacy.... An eye-opening and potentially mind-expanding read for runners and stoners alike, not to mention the culturally curious.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Hesh the runner

Great listen especially since it’s read by the author. It gives the the bigger picture of weed in the US and I’m sports.

Very Informative

Author presents a lot of information that is eye opening, interesting and fact finding. He provides a lot of resources for additional research. His language is a bit colorful so that you are not taken by surprise when it comes up. Overall he presents great information for anyone looking for information on cannabis and exercise.

I flew to Colorado, got high, and went running with the author to celebrate this book

First off, full disclosure. I could not be happier that my fledgling "cann-athletic" startup, Runner's High® Cannabis, shares its namesake with Josiah Hesse's groundbreaking new book, "Runner's High". When I heard about the forthcoming release of this book, I felt compelled to reach out to Josiah to extend a warm, neighborly introduction and welcome. I was eager to read his forthcoming book and contrast his experience, discovering, investigating, and documenting the intersection of athletics and cannabis with my own.

After exchanging a few e-mails with Josiah, I decided to take him up on an invitation to attend his book signing and release party in Denver. The book was not yet released, and I hadn't read a single page, but this posed little deterrence when compared with my excitement for the spontaneous opportunity to visit a place that I will always consider a home away from home. It was on a ranch overlooking the Gore Range of the Rocky Mountains where, as a backcountry ski bum in a tiny off-grid camper, I first discovered the transcendent bliss of running while stoned.

I find it notable that Josiah and I took dramatically different life paths to arrive at this revelation. Still, one passage from the first chapter felt like it could have come directly from the pages of my own journal during my time living in that camper high in the mountains.

" At the moment, in 2015, I have no idea how wildly popular blending cannabis and exercise is across the world and has been throughout human history, employed not only by athletes looking for a competitive edge or simply to increase the natural pleasure of working out, but also by farmers, fisherman, and workers of all stripes seeking relief from the pain and boredom of physical labor.
Up until this moment, I naively believed that I invented it."

This phenomenon of personal discovery, combined with an initial lack of awareness of the broader community of cannabis athletes, will become a theme that Josiah repeatedly encounters as he guides the reader through his charmingly playful adventures researching the intersection of cannabis and sports by which he affirms his claim that:

"In nearly every sport, Cannabis is as commonly consumed as ibuprofen."

As someone who had spent a lot of time thinking about the subject and not having read Josiah's previous publications, except for a couple of his excellent pieces in Vice and The Guardian, my main concern was that this book might take too superficial of a tack. I worried that even a fulsome and honest attempt to shed light on this subject might fail to capture the vast breadth of human experience and evolution into which both the natural runner's high and cannabis use are interwoven.

My fears, it turns out, were completely unwarranted. With a capable, and at times admittedly edible inspired eloquence, Josiah blends his own story and those of the scientists, medical patients, and cannabis fueled athletes he meets with refreshingly illustrative historical, political and scientific context. He also takes care to clearly and informatively break down the misinformation of drug war propaganda and systemic race-based stigmatization that unfortunately permeate our societal understanding of cannabis and cannabis users to this day.

Just like the astounding plethora of terpene profiles and cannabinoid combinations that the plant produces, there are seemingly endless topics that Josiah could have chosen to focus on in the book. From his (stoned on a treadmill) participation in a foundational study on the effects of cannabis on exercise at CU Boulder to my personal favorite, "Canines and Cannabis", about the insights and lessons we can learn from dogs as they tap into their own "natural cannabis" Josiah expertly dances through these ideas like a blissed-out trail runner floating over impossible terrain.

Josiah brings a keen awareness to some of the most subtle yet essential facets of high running. His reflection on the importance of playfulness, how cannabis can help foster it, and its seeming incongruity with competition is one example of the intellectual and emotional rigor on display in Runner's High.

Despite years of meditating (while running) on this subject, I was surprised by the most important takeaway I found in the pages of Runner's High. The very aspects that draw me to running high, the anti-competitive, misfit friendly, confident individualism that it allows and the contented blissful feelings of clarity and peace that I derive from running with my dogs in the woods. These are the very features that have isolated me from fully appreciating how large the high running community already is.

Thank you, Josiah, for shining a bright and hopeful light on this subject for those who have been unfairly sidelined from accessing this evolutionary shortcut to a healthy, blissful, appreciative state that we all should share as a birthright. Thank you for showing those of us who already discovered this secret that our community is far more extensive and diverse than any one of us would have imagined. As I mentioned during our run, it just might be that humans were born to run and to get high together.

Refreshing, insightful and comprehensive!

Based on considerable research, Josiah artfully combines his personal Journey with this subject with the larger social issues impacted by the move toward legalization. Very easy and delightful to listen to. Gave me inspiration for exercise and the pursuit of better health.

Loved it!!

I’m going to be honest, I thought this book was going to be more so opinion based but Josiah exceed my expectations by diving into the sciences behind it and other people’s stories. It’s phenomenal. The benefits are amazing. Consuming cannabis before, during, and/or after a workout needs to be talked about more. Grateful for this book being written.

Could do without the political bias

This book could be half the length and would be 5 stars. However, the author's personal bias from his past traumas bleeds into this book. When diving into political history it is all one-sided ignoring a lot of facts and speaking from a place that he admitted a journalist shouldn't do. The war on drugs has been from both sides as well as the campaign against it. Also lumping all Christians as con artists is a great way to turn off a reader.

Disappointed

What a great idea for a book. An in-depth analysis and discussion of cannabis is needed. Unfortunately that is not what we get. The author is very focused on himself- maybe that’s just a millennial thing. He’s just not that interesting. However he also is challenged in understanding the differences between fact and inference leading to unjustified conclusions The book offers great opportunities. He could have tackled (a sports metaphor)- the phenomenon whereby cannabis users often don’t experience a high the first few ingestions- this is unlike many other psychoactive substances. Or how does different forms of exercise interact with cannabis? Instead we are subject to the usual diatribes on Nixon- he’s been dead almost 30 years. The book has many many inaccuracies. Perhaps it’s just journalism to never let the facts interfere with the narrative. This book is a major disappointment.