Govember

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Well here we are, November 1st and I'm three or so kilograms over my ideal weight (all of it belly flab) and with little to no running in the spreadsheet training log. That has to change.

I am reading about running, just not doing much of it.

Soon though, very soon. Really looking forward to getting started again.

[Sweder]

What are you reading? Any new stuff we might like?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

What are you reading? Any new stuff we might like?

Nearly finished Mark Rowland's 'Running With The Pack' which is quite a different take on what this running malarkey is all about. Review soon.

[marathondan]

Nearly finished Mark Rowland's 'Running With The Pack' which is quite a different take on what this running malarkey is all about. Review soon.

I will read with interest! I tried it recently and gave up after the preface. Far too many long words and long sentences; it didn't feel like a good use of my time.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Book review: "Running With The Pack" by Mark Rowlands

Most of us have at one time or another questioned the reason why we run. On the surface it seems simple: in my case I run because I feel much healthier and better about myself now that I can loosely call myself a runner than those times when I was not a runner. This however is not an entirely satisfactory answer. It doesn’t explain the preference for the activity of running as opposed to any other form of physical activity that would have a similar effect.

Philosophy is not my strong point. I’ve heard of philosophers such as Hume, Wittgenstein and Spinoza of course, but if I’m honest about it, my entire knowledge of them generally springs from Monty Python sketches and Bertie Wooster novels. So it was with interest that I picked up a copy of Mark Rowland’s book ‘Running With The Pack’. Rowland is a genuine Professor of Philosophy, a dog lover and a pretty ordinary marathon runner. Racked with injuries he continues to run, and like nearly all of us, continually wonders why. Early on in the book however he does reach an understanding as such:

‘I have a sell-by date, stamped quite legibly on my dodgy knees, a rather boorish Achilles tendon, a questionable back and recidivist muscles. And in the light of this, I have come to understand that running is not just something I do. It is not even something to which I have a right. It is a privilege.’

This does not of course explain why we run per se but through his running with dogs he has developed a theory of evolutionary processes based on his thoughts about bums. I’m not sure if his book predates the current thinking about sitting being the new smoking, but Rowlands does describe at length the evolutionary processes which have resulted in us using our backsides completely inappropriately – they are designed, he says, for running, and definitely not for sitting.

But this is a mere aside to the deep-seated question of why in this day and age running is still such an excellent activity whilst it simultaneously defies our frequent attempts to analyse what it is that drives us not just to run, but to flog ourselves in endurance events and to pursue outrageous running goals that are completely unnecessary to ordinary life.

As I said, Rowlands is a legitimate philosopher, and like most philosophers before him, spends an inordinate amount of time quoting other philosophers and trying to assess what they are saying, whilst never completely agreeing with them. This I think is what I find frustrating about philosophy – no two philosophers seem to really ever agree with each other. It is a subjective “science”, which is a pity because it of course addresses the truly deep and meaningful questions of life, the universe … and everything.

Ultimately, after much analysis Rowlands does indeed answer the question of why we run. But I don’t think you’re going to like it. He might be right, but it’s so impossible to know for sure that it really only re-raises the self-same question. Which might be the point he’s making. Sometimes I hate philosophers. They can’t say “1+1=2”. They have to discuss existential perspectives, which only serves to make a nonsense of the question in the first place.  

Honestly, I can’t really recommend this book, despite the glowing reviews it has received from others. Dog lovers however will certainly find his canine running partners and his stories about them quite heart-warming. Maybe the dogs understand it better than we do. Running is both fun and a chance to escape from our backyard prisons for a while. That’s enough for me.

Woof!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

By way of a test of the new format, here's a nice photo from my trip to EG-land last year:


The man himself, El Gordo, selecting a suitable dessert somewhere in Switzerland.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

And here's another one for good measure... the infamous Seafront Plodder on his home turf at Seaford with the mighty Diesel.

[Charliecat5]

And here's one of me and Sweder enjoying the fresh falls of snow last winter.

   

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Mum! Charlie's being rude again!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

And here's another one - this time of the inimitable Sweder atop his beloved Blackcap.

[El Gordo]

By way of a test of the new format, here's a nice photo from my trip to EG-land last year:The man himself, El Gordo, selecting a suitable dessert somewhere in Switzerland.

Gah! I'd hate to see a bad one..... That's terrible. I look like someone on the run from some secure institution or other. Though in a very real sense, we are all but on the run from.... [continued Page 94]

[Sweder]