Charlie Engle’s “amazing account from the high and low points of his life as an ultramarathon runner…is uplifting and inspirational” (Publishers Regular) as he describes his globe-spanning races, his record-breaking find the Sahara Desert, and exactly how working helped him overcome drug addiction-and an unjust stint in federal prison.

After a decade-long dependence on crack cocaine and alcohol, Charlie Engle hit bottom with a near-fatal six-day binge that ended within a hail of bullets. As Engle about Running Man: A Memoir got sober, he turned to working, which became his lifeline, his pastime, and his salvation. He began with marathons, so when marathons weren’t considerably enough, he began to take on ultramarathons, races that proceeded to go for thirty-five, fifty, and occasionally hundreds of miles, traveling to some of the most unforgiving places on the planet to race. The Matt Damon-produced documentary, Running the Sahara, implemented Engle as he lead a group on the harrowing, record breaking 4,500-mile find the Sahara Desert, which helped raise millions of dollars for charity.

Charlie’s growing notoriety led to an investigation and a subsequent unjust conviction for home loan fraud for which he spent 16 months in federal jail in Beckley, Western world Virginia. While in jail, Engle pounded the small prison track, working endlessly in circles. Shortly his fellow inmates had been joining him, battling to keep their spirits up in dehumanizing circumstances.

In Running Guy, Charlie Engle tells the amazing, funny, and psychological tale of his life, detailing his setbacks and struggles-from coping with addiction to offering time in prison-and how he blazed a way to freedom by putting one foot before the additional. “A fast-paced, well-written account of a guy who accepts pain, pushes beyond imagined limits, and eventually finds redemption and peace” (Booklist), that is a natural and triumphant account about locating the threshold of human endurance, and transcending it.