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

by Ryan Hall (Narrator), Brenda Barnes (Narrator)

Ryan Hall is an Olympic athlete and American record holder in the half marathon (59:43). But as a kid, Ryan hated running. He wanted nothing to do with the sport until one day, he felt compelled to run the 15 miles around his neighborhood lake. He was hooked.

Starting that day, 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 20-year athletic career and guided him through epic failures and exceptional breakthroughs to competing at the highest level.

Along the way, Ryan learned how to focus on his purpose and say no to distractions, to select and strive for the right goals--goals for the heart as well as the body. With God's guidance and millions of miles pounded out on the track, Ryan discovered secrets to dealing with defeat and disappointment, enduring immense pain, building resilience, and ultimately, running as if you've already won.

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 limits, make space for relationships that enrich life on and off the running trails, and cultivate a positive mindset.

Journey with Ryan as he reflects on the joys and trials of the running life and discover for yourself the power of a life devoted to your God-given purpose.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Faith, Audiobook, Christian, Biography, Health

Audible Audio

Published April 16, 2019

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Madison Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.”

[Adam Ricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting Christian running book but the doctrine was so far off from Scripture, that at times, it was difficult to read.

[Melisa Buie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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!

[Martin Olesen · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Bridget Varley · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ryan writes about his life as an elite runner & his Christian life. It was inspiring hearing his thought process in all the milestones I watched him achieve in his professional career, along with his reactions regarding specific successes and failures. Retiring so young from marathon running, he finds peace in his decision and finds purpose in each new chapter through his dedication to his faith.

[Bobby Bonser · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️
Ryan Hall is an athlete. He is not a writer, and I'm pretty sure this book did not have an editor. There is no flow or organization to this at all, as it jumps all over the place, often skipping forward and then backtracking within his running career. There is very little focus.
There is some good information scattered within - particularly I enjoyed the sections on competition and how to compete gracefully and within your own abilities, and celebrating the success of others. I also enjoyed the section on seasons, as he looks back on his career and embraces his move into retirement, while still acknowledging that it was in many ways, a loss of identity. Even though he was a professional, elite runner, I think these are things all runners can relate to no matter their ability.
This is very faith focused, which one should expect given the title, but I felt a lot of it was an attempt to take his very self motivated, self driven and elitist thoughts and try to put a God spoken spin into them. I don't doubt his faith, nor the calm that it often brought to him while racing, which I think could be helpful for many, but sometimes it felt like he thought he had to justify himself, his competitiveness and his desire to win to be God focused, when he was really just feeling personal drive and self satisfaction. And I think these things are ok, but he seemed uncomfortable admitting that. I did enjoy reading how his faith helped him deal with disappointments and injury though. The retirement chapters were, by far, the best as they felt the most honest, and acknowledged his own choices and decisions without making everything God-driven.
There was also a lot of God "speaking to him" moments, and I've never been a fan of that kind of thing. It comes across hoaky, and all of God's speaking generally fit the narrative he wanted it to.
Overall, if you are a runner, this is worth reading, but contains nothing profound.

[Patrick Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok, but didn’t feel like I got a real good understanding of who Ryan is beyond the surface level. Bigger fan of the Meb, Kara, and Des memoirs.

[Jenna Riehle · Rating 4 out of 5]

getting chi ready 🩵 chapter four made me cry and I may or may not have reread it 3 times

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

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...

[Dina Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Kris Lodwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Cambria Hazard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed. A year later a still think about parts of this book. Recommended for runners.

[Drew Swiston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has so much wisdom on how one's faith and running can be interwoven ... highly recommend!

[Anyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Tamara Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

“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.

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Mikala · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.”

[Jan Geerling · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Jon Walliser · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Victoria Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Less Jesus, more running please. It was hard to get past the bible verses.