I looked through the first few pages of posts on here and didn't see this topic, so I thought I'd start a list.  If you have any recommendations, post them and I'll add them to the master list on this first post so they are easy for everyone to find. 

 

Movies

Running the Sahara (2010)

With Charlie Engle, narrated by Matt Damon.  4300 miles in 111 days, enduring temperatures up to 140 degrees.

Ultramarathon Man: 50 Marathons-50 States-50 Days

It's Dean Karnazes again.  The title is pretty self-explanatory.

The Runner: Extreme Ultrarunner David Horton

Follows Dave as he runs over 40 miles a day for 66 days trying to set the speed record for the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada.

Running on the Sun (1999)

Follows the 1999 Badwater race.  Goes into the lives of some of the competitors and what motivated them to get there.

On the Edge (1985)

A once-promising runner who was unfairly banned from amateur competition twenty years ago sets out to recapture his lost glory and begins to train for one of the toughest races in America, the Cielo Sea.

Running America (2010)

Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich run from San Francisco to New York.

Spirit of the Marathon (2007)

Follows six people that train for and race the 2007 Chicago Marathon.

Indulgence: 1000 Miles Under the Colorado Sky

Follows the training and racing of Anton Krupicka.

The Dipsea Demon

A 96 year old man runs the 2nd oldest footrace in America, the grueling Dipsea race, for a world record 68 consecutive times. An American original, he has lived alone all his life on his 400-acre homestead in the Sierra Nevada foothills with no running water, electricity or house.

Trail Running

DVD on trail running with Dave McMahon and Ray Zahab.

A Race for the Soul

Documentary covering the Western States race.

Chariots of Fire

The heroes are an unlikely pair of young athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics: devout Protestant Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a divinity student whose running makes him feel closer to God, and Jewish Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a highly competitive Cambridge student who has to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism.

Running Brave

Story of Billy Mills in the 1964 Olympic 10,000m

 

Books

            Training

Lore of Running, by Tim Noakes

While not ultra-specific, this hefty book covers pretty much every detail of running.  See if you have the endurance to read all 944 pages.

The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running, 2nd Ed. by Adam Chase
Training, equipment, racing, injuries, nutrition.

Daniels' Running Formula, 2nd Edition
Training methods developed by the great coach Jack Daniels.
Run Faster from the 5k to the Marathon-How to be your best coach, by Brad Hudson
Training insights by the former coach of Dathan Ritzenhein.

Galloway’s Book on Running, by Jeff Galloway

Olympic athlete Jeff Galloway shows how amateur runners can use the same training principles followed by world-class runners. He tells beginners how to get started, explains his ideas on stress and rest, and reveals secrets for running better.

Run With the Champions: Training Programs and Secrets of America’s 50 Greatest Runners, by Marc Bloom

Beginning with legends Frank Shorter and Joan Samuelson, this unique book contains the thrilling stories of our country's greatest runners-each a lesson in dedication, hard work, and an untiring passion for running. Draw inspiration from the story of Billy Mills (ranked No. 6, despite his short career), then try out his Tee-to-Greens Golf Course Training method. Or, if you have a goal race, borrow a page out of Lynn Jennings' training notebook: the methodical 4-Stage Buildup System.

Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger

Shave minutes off your time using the latest in science-based training for serious runners. Advanced Marathoning has all the information you need to train smarter, remain injury free, and arrive on the start line ready to run the marathon of your life.

 

            Ultramarathons

Relentless Forward Progress

Covers training plans, fueling, injury prevention and much more.  Great for beginners, but veterans could probably learn a few things as well.

Running on Empty, by Marshall Ulrich

Covers his entire life of running, but focuses on his run across America in 52 days at the age of 57.  Yes, 58 miles a day for 52 days at the age of 57.  Enough said.

Running Through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon, by Neal Jamison

Features stories by Ann Trason, Tim Twietmeyer, David Horton, Ian Torrence and many more.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall

This book would be an entertaining read even if you were not a runner.  Focuses on the Tarahumara Indians and Caballo Blanco, a white man learning to run like them.

Extreme Running, by Kym McConnell

Covers 24 of the most extreme races, including Badwater, Marathon des Sables, Pike's Peak, Transalpine Run, Antarctica Marathon, Everest Marathon and many more.

Ultramarathon Man, by Dean Karnazes

Dean's media prowess might be more impressive than that of his running, but the book is pretty entertaining anyway. 

The Extra Mile: One Woman's Personal Journey to Ultrarunning Greatness by Pam Reed

Pam dominated the scene for a long time.  This book doesn't focus on the running and training as much as I would have liked, but she battled anorexia, so a lot of pages go to speaking about that.

Tales From Out There: The Barkley Marathons, by Frozen Ed Furtaw

100 Mile race with 59,100 feet of climbing and 59,100 feet of descent.  Since the race began in 1986, only 9 runners have finished in the 60 hour cutoff.

The End of the Trail: A 100 Mile Running Odyssey

Written by a guy who just got under 24 hours, so a very different perspective than focusing on the guys who win in 14 or 15 hours.

 The Lure of Long Distances: Why We Run by Robin Harvie
Boring in the middle but a good book overall about the authors quest to finish the spartathlon. The race that traces the famous trip from Athens to Sparta.

To the Edge: A Man, Death Valley, and the Mystery of Endurance by Kirk Johnson

Book detailing the author's quest to run Badwater.

Run: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss, by Dean Karnazes
Another installment of the Dean Karnazes saga.  What food will be delivered to him on a run this time?

A Few Degrees from Hell: The 2003 Badwater Ultramarathon, by Scott Ludwig
The 2003 race included Pam Reed, Dean Karnazes and 71 other runners.

A Step Beyond: A Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning, by Don Allison

• Advice on training and racing
• The physiology behind ultrarunning

50-50: Secrets I learned from Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days by Dean Karnazes

Packed with practical advice and including training regimens, 50/50 will inspire you no matter what your fitness goal is, whether it's simply walking around the block, running a 10K, or completing yet another Ironman.

And Then the Vulture Eats You, by John L Parker, Jr

True tales about ultramarathons and those who run them.

 

            Nutrition/Injury

Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatment for Athletes by John Vonhof

This is vital information for ultra runners.  It goes through the aspects of anatomy, biomechanics and footwear that can lead to blisters and injuries, and recommends plans of prevention and treatment.

Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance by Matt Fitzgerald

Good if you have a few extra pounds to lose to get to your optimal weight.  Even if you don't, it offers great insights into nutrition for the endurance athlete.

Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes by Monique Ryan

Basic nutrition tips for runners, bikers, triathletes.

The Athlete's Guide to Recovery by Sage Rountree

If you are doing all the right workouts and not seeing the results you would like, maybe your recovery needs some work.

            Biographies, Novels, and Others

Once a Runner, by John L Parker

Every runner should either read this book or make their family members read it to learn the many idiosyncrasies of being a runner. 

Again to Carthage, by John L Parker

Quenton Cassidy is back.  This time, he is training for a marathon.  Who knows, maybe Parker will write a book in a few years in which Quenton starts racing ultras.

 Why We Run: A Natural History, by Bernd Heinrich

Talks about the origin of human running, similar to the Tarahumara in Born to Run, we began as persistence hunters.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami

About a Japanese author turned runner 

To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking on a 5k Makes You a Better Person, by Martin Dugard
Not a bad book about running. The author was a little to full of himself for my taste but I did get a lot of good quotes from this book.
The Long Run: A NYC Firefighter's Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete
Inspirational book about his comeback after getting hit by a bus and almost killed.

Running with the Buffaloes, by Chris Lear

Follows the CU Buffaloes for a season as they run for the NCAA Championship with Adam Goucher in the lead.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon by Kenny Moore

No man has affected more runners in more ways than Bill Bowerman. During his 24-year tenure as track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also ignited the jogging boom, invented the waffle-sole running shoe that helped establish Nike, and coached the US track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games

Pre: The Story of Steve Prefontaine

University of Oregon track star Prefontaine finished fourth in the [5000 meter] race at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Beyond that, he set numerous American records. But it was his personality, not his records, that set him apart.

The Four-Minute Mile, by Roger Bannister

Forty-some years after the barrier was broken it's difficult to imagine how daunting a challenge the four-minute mile once was, but for a generation of world-class runners it represented the impossible dream. Roger Bannister, the British middle-distance runner who finally achieved the epic quest in 1954, wrote this stunning memoir of his life as a runner a year later.

Duel in the Sun: The Story of Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon

The 1982 Boston Marathon was great theater: Two American runners, Alberto Salazar, a celebrated champion, and Dick Beardsley, a gutsy underdog, going at each other for just under 2 hours and 9 minutes. Neither man broke.

Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession, by Richard Askwith

Exploring the world of fell-running—to run the ancient, wild landscape and stay a hero within one’s own valley—this portrait of one of the few sports to have remained implacably amateur and utterly true to its roots details the passionate ambitions of those who participate in one of the oldest extreme sports.

Long May You Run: All Things Running, by Chris Cooper

It covers a potpourri of running topics ranging from shoes, apparel, injuries, unusual races, finding ways to participate in the sport beyond running (e.g. volunteering at races), etc.

Zen and the Art of Running, by Larry Shapiro

This book can help you identify where running fits into the bigger picture of your life and also how to achieve that higher state of consciousness while running.

26 Miles to Boston: The Boston Marathon Experience by Michael Connelly

26 MILES TO BOSTON slips squarely into the running shoes and minds of the athletes as they traverse the 26-mile, 385-yard course of America's most venerated long-distance race.
From suburban Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to the center of metropolitan Boston, here are the mile-by-mile sights and sounds experienced by the runners. Interwoven throughout is the colorful history of the men and women of manifold skills who have competed in this preeminent event over the span of more than a century.

The Quotable Runner, by Mark Will-Weber

By its very nature, running is extreme and pure, resulting in a great supply of extremely memorable quotes, jokes, barbs, and philosophical gems. The Quotable Runner gathers the best of these into one indispensable volume. Sir Roger Bannister compares running to classical drama. George Patton compares it to war. Bill Clinton finds it keeps him optimistic. And Oprah sums it up beautifully: "Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it."

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand unfurls the story of Louie Zamperini--a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned-Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie’s plane crashed into the ocean, and what happened to him over the next three years of his life is a story that will keep you glued to the pages, eagerly awaiting the next turn in the story and fearing it at the same time.