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

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Richard Askwith introduces us to not only fell running, but also fell runners, fell races and long-distance challenges, and the remarkable story of fell-running history – all interwoven with details of the contemporary fell-running year as it passes month by month. Also interwoven is Askwith's struggle, to complete the 72-miles and 48-peaks of the Bob Graham Round (of Lakeland fells) in under 24h, much of which is in his head. The exception is low clouds which typically have cloud bases within the first 6,500 feet (2,000 meters) of the surface. But even that can vary. Unbreakable: the countess, the Nazis and the world's most dangerous horse race. Yellow Jersey Press. 2019. [13]

Richard Askwith is a British journalist and author. [1] He is best-known for the cult 2004 fell running book Feet in the Clouds, which won him the Best New Writer prize at the Sports Book Awards. The book was also shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year and the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. [2] [3] [4]

I think Askwith hits the nail on the head when he states that with a lot of long-distance and endurance running, the battle is in your mind. Inner strength, resilience, and sheer bloody-mindedness account for a major part of putting your body through extremes. Askwith describes the history, the people, the places, the "celebrities" of fell running, but more importantly explains the inner feeling that you get when you know you've won the battle with yourself.

The edition I read included an epilogue, in which Askwith talks about the reception to his book in the years after it, which was nice for me in contextualising it further. These zones are created by the interaction of large cells of air which are part of the earth's global circulation patterns. 5. How much does a cloud weigh? If enough water vapour is available, a pyrocumulus can become a thunder cloud which is called a pyrocumulonimbus which can produce dramatic lightning displays. 2. Up in the clouds The author captures the self-doubt, fear, stubbornness, and mind-numbing forward momentum fell and trail runners experience. If you ever wondered if nature-running endurance athletes were superhuman, look here for our superpower: dirty, bloody grit.

6. The highest cloud of all

While there are many factors that will determine the exact amount of water vapour a cloud holds (e.g. temperature, altitude, pressure etc.) we can work with an average of about 5 g of water per cubic metre of cloud. Most interesting to me, personally, as an aging would-be runner, is the sheer durability of these guys. And gals. Mr. Askwith describes the Wasdale, a race over 25 miles of rugged mountain terrain, as having sixty-eight starters with only twenty-six under forty. Do the math--68-26=42. 42 runners over forty years old. Is the sport aging out? Der schreibende Läufer beschreibt seine zahlreichen Wege bis zum Erreichen seines Ziels mit viel Ehrlichkeit, noch mehr Selbstironie und einer große Portion Läuferhumor. Der ist sportartenspezifisch und auch wenn ich über vieles schmunzeln konnte (auch wenn ich die Laufschuhe schon vor einigen Jahren an den Nagel gehängt habe), sehe ich doch auch ein, dass diese Art Humor sehr speziell ist und daher nicht für jeden geeignet. Confession: I did get tired of the book, about halfway through, but that's more my own personal failing rather than a jab at the book. I'd still recommend it. The Lost Village: In Search of a Forgotten Rural England". British Library . Retrieved 16 July 2020.

Very very enjoyable and will likely inspire most runners to take to the hills and run more in the countryside. The key reason, for me, for it being such a good read is that the book covers three focuses- (some) history and key figures of fell running, coverage of some results over the year, and the authors own experiences going from novice to relatively experienced, particularly with his Bob Graham round attempts.

4. The cloudiest place on earth

He isn't sure, but he does think the reason for such a large proportion of older runners may be that the old are fitter and healthier than ever and fell-running enthusiasts tend to stay fitter and healthier. Bei jeder Sportart gibt es immer eine Steigerung. Wem der Marathon nicht mehr reicht, der fängt mit dem Ultramarathon an. Wem das zu wenig ist, der verlässt die Straße und fängt an, Trail zu laufen. Irgendwann werden es immer mehr Höhenmeter und wenn man in der passenden Gegend wohnt, findet man sein ultimatives Ziel. Für viele Trail Läufer in Großbritannien ist das dann die Bob Graham Round. Although there is no mention of cycling, amateur cyclists will see a kinship in many of the things Askwith talks about – the club scene, the attraction of the great outdoors, the great characters of the sport, to the physical and mental challenge of running up steep hills. The reason clouds are white and the sky is blue is all to do with the colour spectrum of light. Light from the sun starts out white but becomes scattered by particles in the sky. Atmospheric particles in the sky scatter away blue light more than other colours which gives the sky its blue appearance.

Toymaker: the autobiography of the man whose designs shaped our childhoods". British Library . Retrieved 8 October 2022. Heating of the earth's surface is usually done by the sun, but wildfires and volcanoes can also cause intense heating which leads to the rapid formation of clouds known as pyrocumulus. It appears that there are a bunch of old-timers in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland that call mountains 'fells' and run races on them. Who'd have thunk it? Not me. I didn’t have any recognition of the names in the book. There wasn’t a single fell runner who I recognised, apart from perhaps Ron Hill, who wasn’t really a fell runner. This is perhaps proof of the amateur nature of the sport; a sport, which more or less has avoided the trappings of commercialism.

1. Clouds made by fire

The most striking thing about the book is that it made me think if I wasn’t a cyclist, I would take up fell running. In fact there is even a part of me, which wishes for the quiet of a Lake District fell, rather than fighting traffic on the A31. It is also a quiet homage to the spirit of local clubs and volunteers who give up their time to promote amateur sport and the amateur sporting ideal. Cumulus cloud bases have been observed up to 9,000 feet (2,750 meters) over North Central Texas, and thunderstorms with cloud bases from 11,000 to 12,000 feet (3,350 to 3,650 meters) have occurred near San Angelo, Texas. Altocumulus and stratocumulus are often mistaken. Besides altocumulus being higher up in the sky, another way to tell them apart is by the size of their individual cloud mounds. Place your hand up to the sky and in the direction of the cloud; if the mound is the size of your thumb, it's altocumulus. (If it's closer to fist-size, it's probably stratocumulus.) This happens when, despite the dryness of the lower level of the atmosphere, the mid-level atmosphere is fairly moist and unstable. The dryness of the lower level is such that parcels of air need to rise up to two miles (3 km), and sometimes more, before the they cool to the point of condensation. Level