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Great Christmas And Birthday Gift Ideas For Runners

Updated on January 2, 2013

Choose A Great Gift For A Runner

You can choose some amazing Christmas Presents For Runners.
You can choose some amazing Christmas Presents For Runners. | Source

Choosing The Right Gifts For A Runner

Choosing great Christmas and Birthday Gifts for the runner in your life can be a difficult task. It’s all too easy to walk into the supermarket or bookshop and pick up the latest best selling autobiography from a 23 year old athlete who really hasn't experienced enough in life to make an exceptional read.

You want to choose a gift for a runner that shows that their hard work and determination comnes with rewards and that you have some understanding of what they do.

Therefore this list should provide some insights into running gift ideas you could consider.

Give The Give Of Increased Running Knowledge

Runners love to increase their knowledge about running. This means that there's an excellent choice of books you could purchase as gifts for runners. Runners will appreciate a well thought out book for Christmas reading.

Running books also offer an opportunity to expand the mind into different cultures and ways of life. A great example is Christopher McDougalls Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen which delves into the history and culture of Mexico's Tarahumara Indians and provides a fascinating read to both educate and inspire.

Alternately there are some excellent history books featured below which would make fantastic Christmas or Birthday Gifts for Runners.

Great Running History Books To Consider As Gifts

Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze
Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze
The race that started the establishment of the marathon as the marquee event we know it today. This book showcases the true love for the sport that developed from it's inception.
 

Running Training Books Make Great Gifts

Other considerations would be books related to training principles and performance development. Running Anatomy by Joseph Puleo and Patrick Milroy goes into great depth on describing the key muscles used in running both as agonist and supplementary muscles groups as well as indepth training exercises to give the gift of running performance.

Alternately there are some excellent running training books featured below which would make fantastic Christmas or Birthday Gifts

Training Books For Runners On Amazon.com

Runner's World The Runner's Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster
Runner's World The Runner's Body: How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster
A guide to how the latest science can push forward performance. A real must read for the modern, progressive runner looking to achieve their potential.
 

A Christmas Gift For The Business Minded Runner- Cufflinks

If you’re worried about buying a running gift for a very particular runner- There’s no need to worry. Runners are proud to be a runner so a running related item is a great idea for the person who’s exceptionally hard to buy for. These running cufflinks would be a great gift for a running couple about to get married or for the business minded runner with sartorial style who wears double-cuff shirts on a regular basis.

Give The Christmas Gift Of Performance Analysis

A relatively recent development in the running world is the handheld gps unit. These allow a runner to monitor exactly how far they've travelled and the elements of speed and time too. This makes a handheld gps unit a fantastic and very special gift for a runner to allow them to analyse performance.

The Garmin Forerunner 110 is the lightest wrist mounted running gps system on the market and the technology is all fitted into a standard sports watch. The Forerunner 110 GPS running watch enables you to track your training or racing distance, pace and calories burned. This is all combined into a comfortable wrist watch for performance.

Give The Running Gift Of Vision- New Sunglasses

A good set of running sunglasses will not only look good, but provide extensive protection for the eyes to dangerous sunlight. Ideally a pair of running sunglasses should be lightweight and comfortable while fitting well enough to withstand the constant jolting action experienced on rugged trails. Anti-fog capabilities are always an added bonus too and help on long runs in warm weather where ordinary sunglasses can steam up.

Oakley’s Sunglasses for running provide a trusted name and their Radar style offers awesome visibility and performance for a runner or alternately pick up a pair of more economical performance orientated running sunglasses with polarized lenses to reduce light glare whilst running. These from JiMarti won’t break the bank.

Gift The Running Gift Of Sunglasses

Oakley Men's OO9051 Radar Path Shield Sunglasses
Oakley Men's OO9051 Radar Path Shield Sunglasses
Oakley's Radar sunglasses are the ultimate in performance and sports style to give as a gift to a loved one. Clarity of vision and quality are high and these would make an amazing gift for a runner.
 

Swap The Boring Christmas Socks For Some Specialist Running Socks

Getting socks at Christmas as a gift is a time honoured tradition. Why not add a running related twist on the sock tradition for a Christmas gift.

Runners appreciate a good quality pair of socks. Therefore running socks will make a great gift. Consider high performance wicking fabrics for day long comfort. Merino wool socks are an excellent choice as the fabric responds to the environment to provide warmth where required whilst wicking away sweat to prevent blisters.

If your runner mainly sticks to the treadmill or pavements white can be a suitable colour. However if you live within a muddy environment and your runner loves to hit the trails with gusto- Go for a dark coloured sock as white will not stay white for long!.

Wishing Your A Very Merry Christmas Or Great Celebration

This guide should have helped you choose a fantastic gift for Christmas, Birthday or a treat. If it didn't help- please leave your feedback below as we're always looking at ways to improve our content.

We'd like to wish you a fantastic celebration from all at Hubpages

CyclingFitness (Liam Hallam)

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