Running Man, Charlie Engle
Running Man, Charlie Engle
27 Rating(s)
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

Running Man
A Memoir

Author: Charlie Engle

Narrator: Charlie Engle

Unabridged: 10 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/13/2016


Synopsis

Charlie Engle’s “fascinating account of the high and low points of his life as an ultramarathon runner…is uplifting and inspirational” (Publishers Weekly) as he describes his globe-spanning races, his record-breaking run across the Sahara Desert, and how running helped him overcome drug addiction—and an unjust stint in federal prison.

After a decade-long addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol, Charlie Engle hit bottom with a near-fatal six-day binge that ended in a hail of bullets. As Engle got sober, he turned to running, which became his lifeline, his pastime, and his salvation. He began with marathons, and when marathons weren’t far enough, he began to take on ultramarathons, races that went for thirty-five, fifty, and sometimes hundreds of miles, traveling to some of the most unforgiving places on earth to race. The Matt Damon-produced documentary, Running the Sahara, followed Engle as he lead a team on a harrowing, record breaking 4,500-mile run across the Sahara Desert, which helped raise millions of dollars for charity.

Charlie’s growing notoriety led to an investigation and a subsequent unjust conviction for mortgage fraud for which he spent sixteen months in federal prison in Beckley, West Virginia. While in jail, Engle pounded the small prison track, running endlessly in circles. Soon his fellow inmates were joining him, struggling to keep their spirits up in dehumanizing circumstances.

In Running Man, Charlie Engle tells the surprising, funny, and emotional story of his life, detailing his setbacks and struggles—from coping with addiction to serving time in prison—and how he blazed a path to freedom by putting one foot in front of the other. “A fast-paced, well-written account of a man who accepts pain, pushes beyond imagined limits, and ultimately finds redemption and peace” (Booklist), this is a raw and triumphant account about finding the threshold of human endurance, and transcending it.

About Charlie Engle

Charlie Engle is a world-renowned ultra-marathon runner, having won or placed in some of the planet’s most punishing long-distance footraces. In 2007, Matt Damon produced and narrated Running the Sahara, a film about Engle and his successful bid to become the first person to run 4500 miles across the Sahara Desert. Engle has been featured in Men’s Journal, Outside, National Geographic Weekend, Oxford American, Runner’s World, The Huffington Post, PBS’s Need to Know, NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and NPR’s All Things Considered. He lives in North Carolina.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Judith

Where do people get their motivation, energy and stamina? Here's a guy who was not satisfied running marathons, so he had to run ultra marathons and run through Death Valley and run through the Sahara. And I can barely get myself to the gym for a little stroll on the treadmill. This was a fascinatin......more

Goodreads review by kartik

I liked this book - it is a story of perserverance and resilience. Charlie Engle struggles with his addiction and his unjust imprisonment through the power of running. At times, this story felt almost like a hollywood movie with peaks and troughs in Charlie's life, happening almost like clockwork. Th......more

Goodreads review by Edwin

RUNNING MAN by Charlie Engle is an refreshing raw and unfiltered look at someone who lives with addiction. Charlie Engle describes how he got easily addicted to alcohol and drugs early in life and from them on is always fighting those demons. He discovers running, and shifts what seems like a mandat......more