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Run the Mile You're In: Finding God in Every Step

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Journey with Olympian and American half marathon record holder Ryan Hall as he reflects on the joys and trials of running and, along the way, shows you how he found God in every step. Ryan Hall is an Olympic athlete and American record holder in the half marathon, but as a kid, Ryan hated running. He wanted nothing to do with the sport until one day, he felt compelled to run the fifteen miles around his neighborhood lake. He was hooked. From that day forward, Ryan felt a God-given purpose in running. He knew he could, and would, race with the best runners in the world and that his talent was a gift to serve others. These two truths launched Ryan's twenty-year athletic career and guided him through epic failures and exceptional breakthroughs to competing at the highest level. Now a coach, speaker, and nonprofit partner, Ryan shares the powerful faith behind his athletic achievements and the lessons he learned that helped him push past his limits, make space for relationships that enrich his life on and off the running trails, and cultivate a positive mindset. As you learn more about Ryan and his incredible path, you'll gain the tools you need Ryan's story is one of encouragement and inspiration for readers of any age and level of running ability--or none at all. It's a story that shows that you, too, can change your outlook, see God's hand in your life, and run the race that really matters. Praise for Run the Mile You’re In : " Run the Mile You're In is not about winning races and setting running records. It's about always moving forward. Moving outward is an act of courage. The reward is living the lifestyle and embracing the dream." --Bart Yasso, newly retired chief running officer, Runner's World "Ryan's journey on and off the course is touching and a meaningful way to live by helping others. This is an uplifting book of joy and finding your sense of purpose." --Meb Keflezighi, Olympic silver medalist; Boston Marathon and NYC Marathon champion

224 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2019

About the author

Ryan Hall

35 books20 followers
Ryan Hall is an American long distance runner. He won the marathon at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials and placed tenth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing. He holds the U.S. record in the half marathon (59:43). With his half marathon record time, he became the first U.S. runner to break the one hour barrier in the event.

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492 (34%)
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323 (22%)
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91 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
Profile Image for Renee.
1 review29 followers
April 16, 2019
Cleverly divided into 26 chapters, Ryan Hall’s fast-paced book Run the Mile You’re In inspires and motivates through stories of his incredible life as a student athlete and then professional runner. Woven throughout the expressive life stories you will find Bible verses that connect to the stories he tells about his life and running career.

If you’re not a runner, there’s inspiration in Hall’s amazing stories of listening to God for direction guidance. And if you are a runner you’ll be motivated by Hall‘s dedication to the mental and physical challenges that running can bring. One of the best quotes in the book is “comparison sucks the life out of what we are doing. We are all on a beautiful journey, so let us be thankful for every step, even if our journey looks different from someone else’s.”
Profile Image for Adam Ricks.
521 reviews16 followers
September 17, 2019
This book spoke to me. I loved his stories. I loved the Christian themes and lessons he talks about. I really enjoyed the lessons about our relationship to God as well as our relationships with others. The book kept saying things that I completely agree with or wish I would have written myself. Life comes in seasons and has different lessons for each one. Plan to share this with several people--especially runner friends.
Profile Image for Madison Hughes.
5 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2022
I want to start this off saying that I don’t think Ryan is intentionally deceiving his readers with a false gospel, however that is what he is functionally doing and therefore I feel the need to point it out. His theology is very man-centered and so is the book as a whole. There is a lot of prosperity gospel in this book. There is also a lot of self exaltation that he poorly disguises as glorifying the Lord. From a literary perspective, it is also just a poorly written book.
Profile Image for Desirae.
79 reviews
December 20, 2019
This was an interesting Christian running book but the doctrine was so far off from Scripture, that at times, it was difficult to read.
Profile Image for Melisa.
218 reviews3 followers
December 20, 2019
I so wanted to love this book - it had such great reviews. It not well written but I’m okay with that in great running books. I read running books to feel inspired. I wasn’t inspired by this magical thinking book. He seems very simple - how did he get into Stanford? I should have re-read Born To Run .... that was amazing!
Profile Image for Bridget Varley.
166 reviews1 follower
September 27, 2020
This book is broken down like a marathon, 26 chapters. I could find 26 reasons why I didn’t like this book—but I’ll spare you the long read.

The biggest reason I didn’t like this book was because Ryan Hall is a not-so-humble bragger. Every thing that well in life or on a team or in a race was his doing. HE lead his cross country team to victory. HE set the pace so a friend could win the Boston Marathon. HE changed the lives of his fellow college athletes.

Another big turn off was his thought of running was his “God Given destiny.” He was so sure he “deserved” all his success because God told him that. I’m religious—I’m all for having God in control...but we as humans also need to work. Ryan Hall, at one point, left his coach to have God as his coach...who told him then to get a coach...? Ryan seems pompous and pretentious and entitled. I mean, a 14-year old gets told by God to run 14 miles and then with NO training or experience just decides to do it—that’s just stupid, message from God or not.

Ryan Hall also complains A LOT. He complains about having “the worst race of my life” and then places 10th in the Olympia or 2nd in the National championships or breaks a world record at the Boston Marathon. He never just appreciates that he’s talented and lucky.

Lastly, this book was a play-by-play of every major race he was in, details of his exact training plan and pre-race routine. I’m a runner and like to know about that kind of stuff but don’t need to know you drink coffee exactly 90 minutes before a race or that your mile time was 4:56 instead of 4:32 (another dumb thing he always complained about) in Mile 10.

I finished this book fast so I could be done with it.
Profile Image for Martin Olesen.
30 reviews4 followers
September 14, 2020
It rarely happens that I don't finish a book I have started, but happy to have made an exception with this one. It's way too much about religion and too little about running for my taste. The answer to everything seem to be 'because God wanted it' according to Ryan Hall.
Profile Image for Bobby Bonser.
219 reviews
March 24, 2021
I really respect Ryan Hall in many ways. This book was a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a world-class athlete, how he thinks while competing and trains fully-committed to his task. I learned a lot about running from this book.

On the negative side, however, Ryan mixes a form of "pseudo-Christianity" into running that in many places was very dangerous and bad theology. He said several times he attended the "school of supernatural ministry" and speaks about God talking directly to him many times. Sadly, this mindset is extremely dangerous and not Biblical. He takes many verses out of context and strips them of their true intended meaning. For example "He who sits in the heavens laughs" is not a verse about God being happy and chuckling, it is a verse of judgement and derision of God in the face of rebellion. Ryan borders on the health/wealth/prosperity gospel many times, looking at God as a good luck charm instead of valuing Christ for Christ Himself it seems. I really really wanted to like this part of the book, buy unfortunately there were to many dangerous extra-Biblical teachings that do not represent true Christianity.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
235 reviews1 follower
December 1, 2019
Just ok. Always interesting to learn from other runners journeys, but I can’t say there were any huge takeaways for me. Also, the narrator was somewhat boring.
Profile Image for Jillian.
45 reviews1 follower
April 14, 2019
As someone who follows running and American marathoners pretty closely, I was excited to check out Ryan Hall’s newest book. I was aware of Ryan’s faith and the major role it has played in his running, and even though I don’t consider myself very religious, I was curious to learn more about how he has incorporated faith into his workouts, racing, and mindset.

I loved the way each chapter highlights one element of the running life — identity, pain, belief, success, failure — and delves into perspective, lessons learned, and Ryan’s deep faith. If you are a Christian runner or simply interested in one of the best distance runners in the US and what makes him tick, then there are lessons to be learned here.
Profile Image for Sheri S..
1,518 reviews
December 21, 2021
Hall shares his story of faith and running and how the two interconnect in his life. I enjoyed learning about Hall's life and what led him to running. Additionally, he writes about his challenges and how he was able to continue running despite setbacks. An inspirational book, especially for runners...
April 16, 2019
Wonderful book that is encouraging both spiritually and athletically. Appropriate for all ages . My 13 year old cross country/ track and field runner also enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Kris Lodwig.
959 reviews2 followers
May 4, 2020
Honestly not the book I wanted, but perhaps the book I needed. More like going to Church than learning to run. Bottom line: my running is not important as knowing God and having a relationship with Him.
Profile Image for Nicki.
214 reviews2 followers
March 28, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up. This was good but just didn’t go as deep as some of the female running books I have read (Kara Goucher, Lauren Fleshman). Worth a listen.
Profile Image for Anyah.
56 reviews1 follower
December 31, 2019
It was ok. Picked it up off the new release shelf at the library when I saw Ryan Hall had written a book. I had no idea Ryan was a Christia! Cool perspective. Ok writing. Good time filler/ easy read.
Profile Image for Cathy.
476 reviews14 followers
December 23, 2020
Interesting perspectives from a world class runner. Ryan Hall has a strong Christian faith and he chronicles how his relationship with God and his running shaped each other. I admire his faith and how he has remained true to himself and what he believes.

It was also interesting to have one of my beliefs about professional runners shattered. I always assumed running fast was fairly easy for the pros. That they trained hard but improvement came naturally. This book made me see that running fast hurts, and hurts a lot, even for the pros.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
84 reviews1 follower
August 4, 2024
Very bibley. Running is just an excuse to preach his faith. The audience is American evangelical Christian looking for a 26 point sermon with running illustrations. If that is not you, give it a pass and read Meb’s book instead.
Profile Image for Tamara Evans.
942 reviews44 followers
February 16, 2022
“Run the mile you’re in” is a combined memoir as well as book showing the power of faith in one person’s life. By Ryan sharing his personal and professional stories, he aims to encourage the reader to find their god given gift and word daily to strengthen their relationship with God. Through twenty-six chapters (which he calls miles,) Ryan provides stories of how God moved through his life as well as gives advice to the reader regarding how to have a more intimate relationship with God if they only stop to listen.

While listening to the audiobook, some things he said really resonated with me such as others importance of listening to your body as well as the idea that what you focus on increases. I liked the sprinkling of Bible verses throughout the book as well as Hall’s overall positive outlook.

Out of all twenty-six chapters of the book, there were three sections of the book I especially liked. First, I liked mile seventeen which focuses on worship and the idea of worshiping God through running or in anything you do. The second section of the book I liked was mile 21 which focused on partnering and the importance of partnering with body, mind and spirit for success. The third section I liked was mile 22 which focuses on victory and the idea that sometimes the best victory is a team victory over an individual victory. The most interesting take away from mile 22 is that a lighter body doesn’t always mean faster and to focus on right weight for self; focus on being healthy and stronger versus being light.

I appreciated that even though Ryan has had a impressive running career, he is also honest enough to admit his dark days of depression, injury and self doubt which helps to humanize him rather than only viewing him as an athlete.

By showing the journey from someone who didn’t like running to an Olympic athlete, this made me see that no one’s path to greatness is a straight path, but is instead a winding road. While some may feel the book is too preachy at time, to me, the amount of encouraging statements cancel out the overly religious vibe.

Although Hall reads portions of the audiobook, I would’ve preferred to have him read whole book instead of some of the book. Overall, this book is a decent read for runner wanting to learn more about a runner’s relationship with God and a good motivational read for non-runners who are looking for encouragement during various seasons of life.
Profile Image for Kelsey.
43 reviews3 followers
March 16, 2023
Ryan Hall has been a favorite athlete of mine since I ran high school cross country, and I was eager to learn more about his training experience and career. While ultimately a fast and simple read, it was difficult to get through -- full of platitudes, unnecessary parenthetical statements, and sweeping conclusions along the lines of "This never would have happened if I hadn't done XYZ" or "Thankfully I got into running in high school or I SURELY would have partied too much even though I never had a sip of alcohol".

It wasn't until the second half of the book that I felt like I got to read an account of any memories that were longer than a paragraph. It was only in those few isolated stories that got into a bit more detail that I felt like I got what I wanted from the book-- SHOW me what it's like to be an Olympic marathoner, who you run with, how your mindset shifts throughout the race, and walk me through the moments that led to your retirement. I'm left unclear at what this book was supposed to be -- too little substantial content to be an effective memoir, and too scattered and shallow to be an inspirational self-help book.
33 reviews
September 23, 2021
I've put off reading this book for some time because I knew it was most likely going to be more about religion than running which is very true. I support people's choice for religion and being super true believers so I have nothing bad to say or judge about that with this book. That being said it was just okay. I'm sure Ryan has God given talent because when you're 14-15 yrs old and decide to run 15 miles with no training because God told you so and you don't get hurt, kind of strange. He comes off pretty pretentious when he leaves his coach to let God be his coach and he will guide the way, well what do you call other people helping you and coaches writing workouts and giving you advice? Using people who are you're friends because you don't want to admit you need help and repeatedly say you're going to do it on your own with God's help.
Profile Image for Mikala.
365 reviews6 followers
May 4, 2021
Ugh. All zealots are difficult to brook. Ryan’s story is especially dull. Either he didn’t want to have any honest heartfelt stories in the book or his life trajectory has been the very definition of white privilege. I tried to DNF this book at Mile 16 but I thought surely there would be some poignant story or moment of struggle. Nope. Just, “I fly around the world. Have no concept of how the rest of people live. Oh and I adopted a bunch of kids because God told me to be better than you.”
Profile Image for Jan Geerling.
241 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2024
Im not a religious person, and I overlooked the subtitle. Still, as a runner Im always interested in what makes others motivate and push themselves, and Im not someone to knock something until I tried it. Ryan Hall is an accomplished marathon runner, and he knows what he is talking about. But his belief in running and training with god was not for me. Although there were a few moments when some of his ideas touched me, the religious tone of the book simply wasn’t for me.
Profile Image for Jon Walliser.
21 reviews
February 5, 2020
It was nice hearing him talk about how he dealt with the highs and lows of his running career, he was among the very best in the world at the half marathon and marathon. His religious views are fine I guess if that is what you are into. I grew up in a Christian family that believes like he does and it never made sense to me but I wish him well it's just kinda corny to me.
Profile Image for Emily Mellow.
1,278 reviews11 followers
August 6, 2022
I should have read the subtitle before I borrowed the book.
This author not only finds god in every step, but mentions him in every other sentence.
1 review
May 26, 2024
I tried to like this book, but gave up about half way. It was quite boring.
Profile Image for David Steele.
Author 7 books230 followers
May 27, 2019
Run the Mile You’re In by Ryan Hall is an inspirational book for athletes who are looking for some extra motivation from one who is a Christian and a seasoned athlete. As the fastest American half marathoner, Hall’s athletic accomplishments are impressive indeed. The book is cleverly arranged in twenty-six miles, to match the distance of a marathon (less two-tenths of a mile)! Each chapter includes tips and motivational resources for athletes, most of which point to a faith-based model.

I admire the author’s grit, talent, and desire to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ and prompt others to do the same. Yet an honest review compels me to highlight a few concerns - and they’re significant.

First, throughout the book, Hall makes reference to hearing from God. To his credit, he refers often to the Bible but not always in the context of “hearing from God.” That is, there is a subtle undercutting of the sufficiency of Scripture. I often tell the people in the church I pastor, “If you want to hear from God, open his Word.” 2 Peter 1:3 clearly reveals the sufficiency of God’s Word: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…” While the author never makes a claim to extra-biblical revelation, one is left wondering what the purpose of these encounters with God are designed to accomplish. Our direct line to God is found exclusively in his Word. Anything else subtly undercuts the sufficiency of Scripture.

Second, the author encourages readers to “declare” the dreams of their heart. Such a practice is very similar to what is promoted in the Word of Faith movement, i.e. “name it and claim it.” The author even compares this approach to a dangerous book associated with a new age book: “To some, the concept of declarations may seem eerily similar to a popular book called The Secret, whose premise is that you can get whatever you want in life if you just envision it and wish for it. Though I do not believe that to be totally true, I think there is some truth to the power of declarations.” Hall continues, “If I am made in God’s image and likeness, having His powerful Spirit inside me, so too I am able to speak with declarations and create life in any hopeless situation.” These admissions reveal a lack of biblical discernment that readers must take into account. At best, this kind of approach to the Christian life undercuts and compromises the sovereignty of God over all things. At worse, it elevates the creature to a level that is only designated for God.

Run the Mile You’re In is not meant to be a theology book - far from it. The intent of the author is to encourage readers to persevere, set goals, and live with the glory of God as their primary objective. But a closer look reveals that the theological foundations are shaky at best. I urge readers to embrace what is helpful here and discard anything that does not line up with Scripture.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
Profile Image for Mara Quarne.
55 reviews2 followers
August 8, 2024
I have finished it now and surprisingly l, the author does redeem the purpose of this book slightly.
He backtracks to explain his struggles and beliefs being more what he wanted to think God was telling him more than it was God’s will. Overall, it was inspiring in the terms of believing in yourself and pushing forth love and acceptance for your community.

••••••••
I am currently on Mile 8 and I am so close to quitting.
I had such high hopes for actual inspiration and intriguing insights but instead, you get bible-thumping prophetic stories about how "God deemed I could do this all". While I understand the basis and importance of faith, the level to which Hall takes it is almost unChristian. He believes he leads the team to victory, he lost the title for his team, he paced his friend to success, etcetera etcetera. The egotistical writing and points of view are unbearable.

Also, no it is not hard to believe that when you 'autographed' your name and a Bible verse that Sarah used that pretty brain of hers to deduce you were also a Christian. Feels pretty self-explanatory and feels like a dig to women's intelligence TBH. This book is heavily male-centered, which may be can be forgiven due to the fact the author is male, but running is generally a pretty equally split sport at this point. It is time to catch up to the 21st century.
Profile Image for Abigail.
57 reviews10 followers
June 27, 2019
This book is powerful. It's a must read for readers looking for encouragement and raw vulnerability, whether or not they run or have a spiritual background of any sort. Run the Mile You're In impacted me enough that I wrote about Ryan Hall and his book in an article for Book Riot:

"I have a very clear memory from before high school of sitting on the floor of my older brother’s bedroom, reading a Runner’s World article about Ryan Hall while sunlight filtered in through the window. As kid number seven out of nine, raised by two athletic parents—including a mother who ran track in college for a Division I school—and who spent weekends running around at track meets, I knew I wanted to run competitively. Hall’s book today is no less inspiring than the article I read back then.  

"Hall holds the American record for the half marathon and has competed on two Olympic teams, and yet he did not always dream of whittling down his racing times enough to compete with the best runners in the world. Run the Mile You’re Incenters his running journey, his faith, and the immense love he holds for his family."

Read more here: https://bookriot.com/2019/06/05/globa...
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