Running Free
A Runner's Journey Back to Nature
Published on 5. March 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-224-09197-8 (ISBN)
Description
Shortlisted for the 2015 Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing
Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended.
Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature.
An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally - from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.
Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended.
Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature.
An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally - from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.
Reviews / Votes
A joyous, eloquent and lyrical account of one man's lifelong love affair with running... Running Free is simply the prod you need to make you step off the pavement and into the wild -- Martin Love * Guardian * Exhilarating -- Iain Finlayson * The Times * A much needed breath of fresh air -- Alexandra Heminsley * Independent * An escape from the stopwatch tyranny of PBs and split times, this is a reminder of how to run for sheer joy * Runner's World * Intelligent, evocative, passionate and above all enjoyable -- Simon Redfern * Independent on Sunday * [An] idiosyncratic, enjoyable tale... Never less than compelling -- Alexander Larman * Observer * Delightful and endearing...a contemplation of the beauty and joy of experiencing the world out there, beyond the tarmac -- Boff Whalley * The Fellrunner * Very readable and inspiring * UK Press Syndication * The most beautifully written book I have read in ages... Askwith explains why his mind is forever wandering towards thoughts of running freely, up hills, across fields, and through forests whose damp leaves look "like smashed Marmite jars". You can't read such metaphors without being moved by them - literally -- Amol Rajan * Evening Standard * I finished Askwith's book feeling an urgent need to run up the nearest fell, with no watch and no plan. Just me and my whistle, running free -- Rose George * Guardian *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
215 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-224-09197-8 (9780224091978)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2014
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€10.99
Available for download
Person
Richard Askwith has been a journalist for over 40 years. He has written six previous books, including his modern classic on fell running, Feet in the Clouds, which won the Best New Writer category at the British Sports Book Awards and was shortlisted for the William Hill and Boardman Tasker prizes, and he is now one of the UK's most celebrated writers on running. Running Free was shortlisted for the Thwaites-Wainwright Prize, and his evocative biography of Emil Zatopek, Today We Die A Little, was shortlisted in the Cross Sports Book Awards. His most recent book, Unbreakable: the Countess, the Nazis and the World's Most Dangerous Horse Race, won Biography of the Year at the Telegraph Sports Book Awards in 2020.