The inspirational story of athlete Jo Pavey, the runner and mum who ran at a record-breaking fifth Olympic Games at Rio 2016. 'Come-back races? I've had more than a few, the night of 10 May 2014 was the ultimate long shot. I was a forty-year-old mother of two who had given birth eight months before. I trained on a treadmill in a cupboard by the back door and I was wearing a running vest older than most of the girls I was competing against. Was I crazy?' Jo Pavey was forty years old when she won the 10,000m at the European Championships. It was the first gold medal of her career and, astonishingly, it came within months of having her second child. The media dubbed her ‘Supermum’, but Jo’s story is in many ways the same as every mother juggling the demands of working life with a family – the sleepless nights, the endless nappy changing, the fun, the laughter and the school-run chaos. The only difference is that Jo is a full-time athlete pushing a buggy on her training runs, clocking up miles on the treadmill in a cupboard while her daughter has her lunchtime nap, and hitting the track while her children picnic on the grass. Heartwarming and uplifting, This Mum Runs follows Jo’s roundabout journey to the top and all the lessons she's learnt along the way. It is the inspiring yet everyday story of a mum that runs and a runner that mums.
Two elite runners share inspirational advice and practical strategies to help multitasking women make running part of their busy lives. Dimitry McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea understand how the forces of everyday life—both external and internal—can keep a wife, mother, or working woman from lacing up her shoes and going for a run. As multihyphenates themselves, they have faced the same challenges. In Run Like a Mother, they share their running expertise and real-world experience in ensuring that running is part of their lives. More than a simple running guide, Run Like a Mother is like a friendly conversation aimed at strengthening a woman's inner athlete. Real achievement is a healthy mix of inspiration and perspiration, which is why the authors have grounded Run Like a Mother in a host of practical tips on shoes, training, racing, nutrition, and injuries, all designed to help women balance running with their professional and personal lives./
Love Her Wild is now one of the biggest outdoor communities in the world, winning multiple awards, receiving international recognition, and taking thousands of women on adventures. Bex Band also made a dream career for herself in the process—running a community built on passion and a drive to make a difference. Gather is the book Bex wishes she had with her when she clicked that create button. Building an online community is an incredible journey, but a very challenging and lonely one at times. This guide will help you navigate the bumpy road ahead, encouraging you to lay down a launch blueprint, drive new members to your community and keep them engaged, market effectively, and learn how to monetize and build a career for yourself doing what you love.
'A timely, engaging and thought-provoking read from an ideal guide to explore what the future may hold.' Dan Roan, Sports Editor, BBC News 'Matt shows with great insight and wisdom how (sport) can form the foundations for future discovery, development and ultimately, happiness.' Ben Ryan, Olympic Gold Medal-Winning Rugby Coach and Author Sevens Heaven, Daily Telegraph Sports Book of the Year 2019 Sport can save us. After a fractious decade following the 2012 Olympics, sport - one of our few remaining collective rituals - is entering its golden age. An increasingly powerful force for good, it is undergoing a dramatic transformation that will positively impact our lives, on and off the pitch. From the collective shared experience of a nationwide event and the individual benefits gained from lacing up your trainers and getting out there to the political power of a footballer's Twitter account, All to Play For is a roadmap for the way that sports can unite us in the worst of times. Illuminated by interviews with a diverse range of sports insiders, including fitness guru Joe Wicks, gold medalist Greg Searle, the mind behind the viral 'This Girl Can' campaign, Tanya Joseph, and running obsessed rockstar Johnny Marr, All to Play For dives into the past, present and future of the industry to show how sport will lead us out of the darkness and guide us in a post-pandemic world. Covering the rise of the athlete activist, the necessity of grassroots organisations, the secret recipe for making sport an effective tool for change and ten bold predictions on how it will guide us in the future, this is an examined look at why sport has the power to heal a divided world.
The authors of Run Like a Mother share a comprehensive guide to race training for busy runners of all experience levels. In Train Like a Mother, elite runners Dimitry McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea offer inspiration and practical advice on how to run a race—from training plan to finish line. Covering four race distances (5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon), they discuss pre- and post-race nutrition; strength training; injury prevention (and rehab); the importance of recovery; and everything busy women need to know to add racing to their multitasking schedules. It is all presented with the same wit, empathy, and tone the avid fans connect and identify with.
'If you’re looking for inspiration, not just about running, but about overcoming life’s challenges, Just Run is for you.' Nita Sweeney, author of Depression Hates a Moving Target ‘It doesn’t matter if you're running for the first time, stepping out after a long break, or trying to rekindle your motivation, it’s a new day and a new start. You don’t have to run a certain number of days a week or a set mileage. All of this is irrelevant. You do you. You can do it. Just run.’ Merili felt nothing like a runner when she threw on her Lidl cotton leggings and a hoodie. Despite her self-doubting inner gremlins, she laced up her old, uncomfortable running shoes and headed out for a run, seeking a mental break from the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Just Run follows an ordinary runner’s journey – embracing highs, overcoming lows, and finding inner strength. It's for all runners, especially beginners or anyone who has ever thought about running, offering insights and practical advice on building a running habit. Whether you’re aiming for marathons, ultras, or you stick to 5ks, you are a runner, and that’s truly awesome! Discover the transformative magic that unfolds when you lace up your shoes and decide to just run. 'If you're looking for inspiration, not just about running, but about overcoming life's challenges, Just Run is for you.' Nita Sweeney, author of Depression Hates a Moving Target 'Merili shares her running experiences with unflinching honesty and vulnerability, proving that running isn't just about finish lines - it's about embracing the journey, overcoming obstacles, and discovering our limitless potential.' Lisa Jackson, author of Your Pace or Mine? 'Merili has managed to do what might seem beyond reach to most people. She has proven that it is not only possible to start running from the lowliest of places - from barely walking 3,000 steps a day to completing an ultra marathon just a handful of years later - but she has also shared her story skilfully and passionately in the pages of her new book, Just Run.' Rachel Ann Cullen, author of Running For My Life 'Merili has an openness that reminds us that while the act of running can be difficult, it is also rewarding and life changing. This is a great opportunity to get into the head of a runner. Merili shares her struggles and highlights the importance of perseverance and self care.' Jonathan Cairns, author of The Plant Based Runner and From Marathon to Ultra 'Merili Freear reminds us that running at its essence is quite simple: it's about getting outside and putting one foot in front of the other. The rest is discovery. And as you'll discover in her aptly named book, if you "just run", no matter how slowly or tentatively at first, a new world will open up before you.' John Hanc, author of The Essential Runner and The Coolest Race on Earth 'If you're struggling to start running, this memoir is the running buddy you need to get out there! Just Run is the encouragement to find joy in running without comparison and illustrates more is possible from running three times a week than you may have imagined.' Ronnie Staton, ultra runner, coach & HOBO Pace race director 'Merili overcomes obstacles - self-doubt, injury, lack of motivation - and helps the reader understand that we all experience these at some time or another, and that they are not insurmountable. All in all, this is an inspiring read about all aspects of running, both positive and negative.' Michelle Mortimer, UKRunChat
Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2022 Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 Sport has an extraordinary, unique capacity to challenge and change society – to bring joy and hope; to improve physical and mental health, reduce loneliness and build self-esteem and happiness. It’s also a multi-billion-pound commercial industry that can transform lives, businesses, nations and regions. Why has half the population been deprived of access to something so culturally powerful? In recent years, the landscape for women’s sport has finally begun to shift. We’ve seen significant increases in investment, spectators and media coverage. More women as professional athletes and taking influential roles as board directors, editors, officials and CEOs. Yet female athletes still don’t get equal opportunities or funding. In many sports, women receive less prize money, lower sponsorship revenues and a tiny fraction of the media coverage. Drawing on her own experiences, and interviews with high profile Olympic and Paralympic champions, broadcasters, journalists, sports scientists, CEOs, officials and sponsors, Sue Anstiss investigates why women have been excluded from the world of sport for centuries – and why we are now witnessing positive change as never before. Game On is a celebration of the trailblazing women opening doors for others and a manifesto for women’s sport – a rallying cry to ensure the progress we are currently seeing goes from strength to strength.
Misadventures in Entrepreneuring® is the brainchild of Gayle Mann and Lucy-Rose Walker who were personally involved in the start-up, growth and eventual sale of Entrepreneurial Spark. They have experienced their own 'misadventures’ as well as the many misadventures of the 4000+ entrepreneurs they have worked with along the way, most of which were entirely psychological. It focuses on the psychology of entrepreneuring® and how crucial it is to getting in, and out, of many of the most common misadventures. Dispelling myths about the daily challenges entrepreneurs face, and providing reassurance and inspiration, Misadventures in Entrepreneuring® delivers support and guidance to entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes through the authors’ story and those of many other entrepreneurs as they cope day to day. If you feel like your business has taken over your life, if you love what you do but struggle to juggle all your priorities, if you sometimes forget what you dreamed of when you started – this book is for you.
Mara Yamauchi is a two-time Olympian, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, and one of the UK's fastest female marathon runners ever with a personal best of 2:23:12. But there is much more to Mara than just running fast. During her career as a world-class marathon runner, Mara experienced the exhilarating highs and crushing lows of elite sport. Her experiences proved to be an enriching journey of immense self-development, deep understanding and valuable learning—about her character, running and life itself. This book of 42.195 insights—the number of kilometres in a marathon—distils the wealth of wisdom and experience Mara has gained as a world-class athlete. From planning training, optimising nutrition, and preparing effectively for racing to coping with disappointments and struggles with mental illness, Mara shares everything she has learned—good and bad—as one of the world's top marathoners. Not one to spoon-feed her training plans, Mara instead encourages you to think critically to understand how to improve and set your own goals. She also takes you into the revered world of distance running in Japan, one of the world's marathon superpowers. This book has something for everyone, from beginner runners to competitive athletes and those aspiring to the very top. Mara's insights are also applicable beyond running and are meant for anyone who wants to realise a dream or achieve a lifetime goal in whatever field is special to them.
Although sport participation decreases on average for women once they become mothers, female athletes from the recreational, to the competitive, to the elite level have demonstrated that motherhood does not signal the end of sport engagement and athletic identities, or career and leadership roles. This is the first book to offer an in-depth examination of the nexus of women, sport and culture within the context of motherhood, uncovering new narratives that raise the profile of non-conformist performances. The book brings together international researchers using innovative and rigorous qualitative methods to show how sport affords or constrains women’s agency to devise, negotiate and live alternative versions of motherhood in and through sport. Presenting stories of sporting mothers in contexts including martial arts, leisure swimming, recreational running, triathlon and climbing, the book explores the shifting meaning and practices of motherhood across social, cultural and media/digital landscapes. Deliberately challenging taken-for-granted ways of thinking about motherhood and sport, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the socio-cultural study of sport, gender and sport, women’s studies, sport coaching, sport leadership, sport development, or qualitative and digital research methods.
