The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports

A profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives, written by record-setting distance runner and CEO of The Atlantic, Nicholas Thompson.

“This is not just an engaging memoir about running. It’s a meditation on what it takes to marshal and maintain motivation.” — Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again

“Endlessly surprising, revelatory, and heart-rending.” — Anna Wintour

For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been more than a sport—it’s a way to connect, to heal, and to understand himself. From running his first mile at five to coping with a medical scare in adulthood, running has been both a discipline and a mirror for his inner life.

In his 40s, while reflecting on his late father’s complex legacy, Thompson trained for the Chicago Marathon under elite coaches. Through years of dedicated training, he discovered that growth and strength don’t stop with age—they evolve.

Blending personal memoir with stories of runners who overcame life’s hardest challenges, Thompson shows how the act of running can become a path toward meaning, resilience, and transformation.

The Running Ground is a deeply moving story about fathers, sons, endurance, and the most elemental of sports — running.