Daughters of Distance

by Vanessa Runs

What does it mean to be a female in endurance sport? Hundreds of women open up about their realities as athletes, wives, girlfriends and mothers. From the intimacy of the bedroom to the community of competition, some of these stories will encourage and uplift. Others will surprise and infuriate. Welcome to the beautiful and complicated world of strong women.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

342 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2015

About the author

I am an author, trail nerd, elevation junkie, and mountain-loving dirtbag. My husband Shacky and I have been living and traveling full-time in our 22-foot Rialta with the dog and cat since 2013.

I have published two books: Daughters of Distance & The Summit Seeker, both available on Amazon.

More at vanessaruns.com.
Twitter & Instagram @vanessaruns

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“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” (Edward Abbey)

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in a goodreads giveaway. I loved the concept . A book specifically about not women athletes, but endurance athletes. Most people wouldn't make that distinction and it's an important one. I think Vanessa Runs does a good job of addressing issues that are characteristic of female endurance athletes, specifically running but can apply to other sports as well: such as cycling, swimming etc. The book on the whole was interesting but not engaging until (for me) the final 3 chapters that diagrammed the phases of life for female athletes, aging and other associated issues. But my main complaint is that the book is filled with anecdotes and quotes from other books. My initial thought was that the book would be filled with testimonials that she had personally collected. The reliance on other books, very short personal stories and thin content made the book seem superficial. The one thing I wanted to come away with, I didn't get. I wanted to be inspired and motivated. I came away sort of "meh". Great concept, execution was not quite as good, but it does illustrate the need for more books and stories about female endurance athletes. I would love to read more books on the subject, but they just don't seem to exist. Overall this was an interesting book that was worth my time.

Edited to add: I also didn't completely agree with the conclusions in the book which seem to be specific to running and not all endurance sports. The author didn't provide enough material in the book to support her assertions.

Almost 3.5 Stars

[Heather Durick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I think that I just don't like her writing style. It feels so disorganized as if there were just a bunch of excerpts from other books and blog posts thrown together. This book had so much potential, but it just wasn't put together and edited well enough to live up to that potential. It's such an important topic, and I wanted way more than she gave us on the topic. I think part of the problem is that I had already read a lot of the source material that she pulled from so I felt like there wasn't a lot new here. Great ideas but she would benefit from a good editor and maybe some guest authors to help with a few of the chapters (particularly on mothers and endurance sports).

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting read. I probably enjoyed it more than some would because i am the target audience for the book - a woman who runs and aspires to run longer. I think anyone could enjoy this book. It is fun to see an author develop. Vanessa Runs' first book was fun but this book was markedly better. I think she will grow to be a really good author.

[Cathy Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but felt I did not relate to a lot of her feminism for various reasons. Nonetheless, even if I couldn't always relate to the narrative, I could see so much of my fellow female distance runners in the book and I appreciated this. The book does grasp the bond between women in running. And through her references, she gave me so many ideas for other books I want to read

[Christy Keeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Daughters of Distance" reads a bit like a dissertation because it covers each topic so well and Runs' assertions are always backed with literature (albeit not academic literature) and anecdotes based on qualitative research. I was amazed at how similar our reading lists were; she and I have read most of the same books on the topical intersection of women and running.

Her book is fantastic for women who run, women who participate in triathlons, and women who engage in sport in general. She covers everything from pregnancy to relationships and doesn't shy away from topics most non-gender-specific sport books ignore. She tells it how it is and backs it up with quotations from other active women, especially well-known distance runners.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a slow start for me, because I expected to hear more stories about the journey of women who run. Quite a bit of the first half of the book was focused on sexism in the sport, which was interesting, but probably would have been better to ease into.

I LOVED the topics after that.

Totally worth the read or listen.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book, very informative and well thought out and I liked it. the structure meant that i was inherently less interested by the end? because it was less immediately relevant to me i guess but i'm definitely keeping this title around and going back to it from time to time.

[Katherine Laurain Ashburner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative read. Presents many sides to any issue addressed.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

awesome discussion about woman and endurance racing. lots of details about things I rarely think about even as a female runner. I really appreciate all the insites.

[Maggie Mayhem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this blog-to-book, it was a surprise feminist hit for me. I do enjoy marathons and started diving into books about them. "Born To Run" is the most popular book about distance and it was certainly engaging but it wasn't great on the gender front where men are heroes who run for love and the few women mentioned somehow wind up being called witches. This book was a much needed follow up that made me feel good about participating in my chosen sport, gave me excellent perspective, and covered material that most running books haven't even considered touching without falling into the tropes common among the "lady-marathon-straight-to-kindle" genre. This was a hidden gem I'd recommend to any woman considering her first half-marathon or about to undertake her hundredth ultra, as well as to men who may not consider some of the unique things women face.

[Deborah Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

All you runners or wanna-be's especially ultra women, this was a great fast read. It is about women in running, written by a ultra woman, and adds a great deal of knowledge about how under-represented women runners are, but also about how incredibly supportive the community is. The author presents the information in well written, concise, and understandable ways. You will also get to meet some great ladies while reading

[Rachel Hefner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling, informative and thought provoking

I really enjoyed this book. I'm an endurance athlete, a woman, a mother, a wife, and an avid reader. I enjoyed Vanessa's writing style and found much in the book sparked a "no way, me too" moment as I found myself eagerly trying to squeeze in one more chapter the same way I try to squeeze in one more mile.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving and inspirational read for any person, male or female, endurance runner or not.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a contest as my sport is reading. I really enjoyed reading this and seeing the perspective of these female athletes.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring