Paul Fennessy 20 YEARS AGO, when Richard Askwith was getting ready to publish his first book, about fell-running, expectations were not particularly high.After all, its subject was and remains, a niche sport.
It is a story about the author’s gradual immersion into the world of fell-running, from painstaking attempts to tackle one of the sport’s most formidable and famous challenges — the Bob Graham Round — to interviewing several iconic figures. But then gradually, because I got involved in trying to do this ridiculous challenge called the Bob Graham Round, and failing to do it. And then I found myself sucked into this compulsion to keep coming back and doing more and more of it.
The whole culture of fell-running seemed so exciting and wonderful and life-enhancing. It seemed crazy not to write about it. That happened before I started writing the book. I’m still quite vague about the time scale of various points in the book because, on the one hand, there’s this strand of one particular fell-running year running through the book.
But when I started writing about people like Joss Naylor, Billy Bland, Kenny Stuart or Helene Diamantides — I knew they were interesting. All I need to do is write down what they did and said, and people will be interested. But also, what I liked about doing that book was there were very different people. And it’s almost hard to see what they had in common
The popularity and nature of what constitutes fell running has changed in the 20 years since the book's publication. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Insane numbers of people are doing these things. And there’s a lot of contrast in how those races take place, and the traditional fell race where it’s simple, all you need is a pair of studded shoes, or in some cases not even that.
The good thing about that is that it has empowered people who had just been running on roads or doing marathons to realise that you can stretch yourself, and have adventures running. And so you get top runners who have kit sponsors, for example. Most modern elite fell-runners have social media accounts.
The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, which attracts thousands of entries every years. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock PhotoAbsolutely. It was such a modest culture, all these unbelievable athletes. Many of them could easily have competed in the Olympics, rather than what they were doing.
Feet In The Clouds Fell-Running Interview Masterpiece Richard Askwith
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »
Source: entertainmentIE - 🏆 23. / 51 Read more »
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »
Source: entertainmentIE - 🏆 23. / 51 Read more »
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »