Feet in the Clouds : A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession - Hardcover

Richard Askwith:

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1854109898 ISBN 13: 9781854109897

Publisher: London: Aurum Press, 2004., 2004

Synopsis

The concept of fell running is simple: a long-distance race that includes running up and down several tall mountains. Though rarely making the sports pages, it is a mass-participation sport in areas like the Lake District and Snowdonia - indeed, race organisers turn competitors away so that fragile mountain uplands are not irrevocably damaged by thundering feet. Fixtures like the annual Ben Nevis and Snowdon races, or the Borrowdale and Wasdale fell runs in the Lakeland valleys (20-mile-plus marathons), have remained local events attended by the whole community - the runners back at work the next day shearing sheep. In this volume, Richard Askwith explores the world of fell-running in the only legitimate way: by donning his Ron Hill vest and studded shoes and spending a season running as many of the great fell races as he can, from Borrowdale to Ben Nevis: an arduous schedule that tests the very limits of one's stamina and courage. Along the way he also meets the greats of fell-running - like the remarkable Joss Naylor, who to celebrate his 60th birthday ran the Lakeland fells non-stop for a week, and Kenny Stuart, the wiry Keswick man whose astounding records still stand for many of the top races, and Bill Teasdale, one of the sport's pioneers, still living in the same tiny cottage in the northern Lakes. Ultimately Askwith's obsession drove him to attempt the ultimate challenge: a circuit of the Lake District peaks within 24 hours. This is a portrait of one of the few sports to have remained implacably amateur, and utterly true to its roots - in which the whole point, indeed, is to run the ancient, wild landscape, and stay a hero within one's own valley. A chronicle of a masochistic but admirable sporting obsession, a touching exploration of one of the last genuinely sporting communities, and an insight into one of the oldest extreme sports.

About this title

About the Author

ROBERT McFARLANE is one of Britain's leading writers on nature and landscape. The author of The Wild Places, Original Copy and Mountains of the Mind, he is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. RICHARD ASKWITH is Associate Editor of the Independent and author of Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession. He lives in France.

Review

'A minor masterpiece.' Sports Book of the Week -- Frank Graham The Sunday Times 'A rousingly readable chronicle... The book wants for nothing in terms of rhythm and drama and tug.' -- Christopher Bray The Sunday Times, Culture 'Sports book of the season - a terrific story of fell-running and obsession.' -- Blake Morrison Guardian '[An] excellent book.' -- James Eve The Times 'One of the most effervescent books about anything - never mind fell-running - that I have ever read.' -- Dave Jones The Fellrunner 'Imagine how strange it feels not only to have read a book about fell-running, but to have enjoyed it so much that I am now contemplating trying the sport myself...a lovely little book'. Annalisa Barbieri, New Statesman -- Annalisa Barbieri New Statesman A beautifully written, potted history of fell-running and famouse fell-runners. Definitely worth a peep! Country Walking

About this edition

• Publisher: London: Aurum Press, 2004.
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1854109898
• ISBN 13: 9781854109897
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 339