Running to Create with author Brendan Leonard

Brendan Leonard has written books and made films about running but didn’t consider himself a ‘runner’ until his 30s. How did he start? An ultramarathon, of course…

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You’re currently reading a running newsletter with a silly title. Brendan Leonard writes running books (and more) with silly titles. The difference is that he’s brilliant at it and he can draw.

A portrait of the author, Brendan Leonard, and the covers of two of his many books.

2021’s I Hate Running and You Can Too and 2022’s Have Fun Out There Or Not: The Semi-Rad Running Essays are chock full of hilarious, relatable anecdotes and the kind of idiosyncratic illustrations that make me want every single one on a t-shirt.

Writing and illustrating is reason enough for applause, but he also made a film about running. If Leonard seems like a born-and-bred, dyed-in-the-wool runner that you can never aspire to be like, however, he’ll be the first to correct you.

He took a “big break from running” until 2006, whe…