What are your favourite books of all time? Which books have changed your life? Many people include Lore of running among the answers to those questions. Approaching the 20 year anniversary of the genesis of this “runner’s bible”, Tim Noakes has released the extremely comprehensive, yet very practical 4th edition.

Unlike J K Rowling, who dices her adolescent psychology and astral physiology research into seven books and four movies, T D Noakes provides his reader with the equivalent of four substantial books within the covers of this 1277 page tome. Firstly, Lore is a fascinating historical biography of runners and running. The running reader loves to know the secrets of the champion’s mind and motor, and Lore provides almost 200 pages of unique insights into the Who’s Who of running, including Deerfoot (1861), Paavo Nurmi, Arthur Newton, Emil Zatopek, Jim Peters, Kip Keino, Bruce Fordyce, Grete Waitz, Robert De Castella, Carlos Lopes, Frank …