Cassell makes a dash for Benson's book on women's ultrarunning

Cassell, part of the Octopus Publishing Group, has made a dash for The Path We Run: The Incredible and Very Personal Story of Women’s Ultrarunning by Jen Benson.  

Trevor Davies, publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives. It will publish on 1st August 2024. 

In her book, running journalist Benson looks at the science, hidden history and what it takes personally to run an ultra-marathon. The backbone of the book is Benson’s own story of training for and running her first 100-mile ultramarathon, through the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog).  

The longer the distance run, the more women are competitive with – or even have an edge over – their male competitors. Based on past results, over 5km men are 17.9% faster, over a marathon they are 11.1% faster, over 100 miles they are 0.25% faster, and over the incredible distance of 195 miles they are 0.6% slower.  

The book shows how due to historical and societal factors, the longer the distance, the less likely women are to line up at the start line. Interweaved with this are interviews with some of the greatest ultra-women of the past 40 years revealing “a remarkable sporting history of extreme performance hitherto untold” the publisher said.  

Davies said: “What Jen is trying to accomplish as both a runner and an author is incredible. Not only is she going to document the build up to, and running of, an ultra-marathon, but she’s going to shed a light on women’s achievements in the sport, which has had so little attention in the sports press. Being able to out-perform male competitors at long-distance running was eye opening to both me and the team at Octopus and it led to us questioning why we didn’t know about this fact.  

“I truly hope this book will be the inspiration for many readers to get out there and push the boundaries of what they thought they could achieve. For Jen to seek out and talk to female athletes that have achieved such incredible feats in the sport; to look into the science of ultra-running, and actually compete in a race herself is, perhaps, the ultimate in author dedication to their work.”  

Benson added: “I’m delighted to be working with the team at Octopus on this book, the subject of which is close to my heart in so many ways. I truly believe that sharing the fascinating science and stories of ultrarunning’s incredible women, alongside my own tale of taking on a huge and terrifying challenge as a 40-something mum of two, has the power to inform and inspire a whole new wave of women ultrarunners.”