A profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives by a record-setting distance runner who is now the CEO of The Atlantic.
For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another. He ran his first mile at age five, using it as a way to connect with his father as his family fell apart. As a young man, it was a sport that transformed, and then shook, his sense of self-worth. In his 30s, it was a way of coping with a profound medical scare.
By his early 40s, Thompson had many accomplishments. He was the Editor in Chief of a major magazine; a devoted husband and father; and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father’s life. Had the intensity and ambition he’d inherited made a personal crisis inevitable for him as well?
Then a chance offer gave him the opportunity to train for the Chicago Marathon with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn’t necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. For seven years after his father died, Thompson transforms his body to perform at its highest capacity, and the profound discipline and awareness he builds along the way changes every aspect of his life. Throughout the narrative, he weaves in stories of remarkable men and women who have used the sport to transcend some of the hardest moments in life.
The Running Ground is a story about fathers, sons, and the most basic and most beautiful of sports.
“The Running Ground is more than a book about running—it’s a deeply human and beautifully written story of honest introspection in which Thompson illustrates how the simplest sport can help us navigate the most complex terrain of our own lives.”—Kilian Jornet, ultramarathoner, world record holder for fastest time running up Mt. Everest
“At its heart, The Running Ground is about fathers and sons, ambition and aging, and the quiet grace of moving ever forward. It’s an important look at how one of the simplest human actions—placing one foot in front of the other—can help us outrun our shadows, and catch what we love most.”—Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators
Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth. Before joining The Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. He is also a former contributor for CBS News and has previously served as editor. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race.
View titles by Nicholas Thompson
A profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives by a record-setting distance runner who is now the CEO of The Atlantic.
For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another. He ran his first mile at age five, using it as a way to connect with his father as his family fell apart. As a young man, it was a sport that transformed, and then shook, his sense of self-worth. In his 30s, it was a way of coping with a profound medical scare.
By his early 40s, Thompson had many accomplishments. He was the Editor in Chief of a major magazine; a devoted husband and father; and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father’s life. Had the intensity and ambition he’d inherited made a personal crisis inevitable for him as well?
Then a chance offer gave him the opportunity to train for the Chicago Marathon with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn’t necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. For seven years after his father died, Thompson transforms his body to perform at its highest capacity, and the profound discipline and awareness he builds along the way changes every aspect of his life. Throughout the narrative, he weaves in stories of remarkable men and women who have used the sport to transcend some of the hardest moments in life.
The Running Ground is a story about fathers, sons, and the most basic and most beautiful of sports.
Praise
“The Running Ground is more than a book about running—it’s a deeply human and beautifully written story of honest introspection in which Thompson illustrates how the simplest sport can help us navigate the most complex terrain of our own lives.”—Kilian Jornet, ultramarathoner, world record holder for fastest time running up Mt. Everest
“At its heart, The Running Ground is about fathers and sons, ambition and aging, and the quiet grace of moving ever forward. It’s an important look at how one of the simplest human actions—placing one foot in front of the other—can help us outrun our shadows, and catch what we love most.”—Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators
Author
Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth. Before joining The Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. He is also a former contributor for CBS News and has previously served as editor. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race.
View titles by Nicholas Thompson
