(07-04-2014, 04:26 PM)glaconman Wrote: It's as though this book had never been written:
Boff Whalley- Run Wild
Not sure why you put it like that, GM old chap. I don't think anyone is saying that the Askwith perspective is new. Anyone visiting pretty much any running forum (including this modest one) will know that the purist point of view is a very well-worn path.
I've read only the first 4 chapters of Askwith and the brief Amazon extract of RW (which I'd not heard of before -- thanks), but it seems like they are covering the same ground but with a slightly different tone. RW seems just a touch dismissive, which might explain some of the comments there while Askwith writes with a more wistful air (so far at least).
But I'm sure both are worth reading and that other books on the subject are yet to come.
I have to say though that I always think that while the Askwiths and Whalleys of this world bemoan the lack of understanding towards the joys of fell running and pelting down steep bumpy hillsides.... there is arguably a lack of understanding on their part of the motivations of the urban plodder. Yes, there is an overlap in this Venn diagram where some of the latter can be drawn into the countryside through books like these, but I'm pretty sure that in the main, we are talking about two distinct herds here with different natural preferences, opportunities and ability levels.
By the time I've finished the book I may have a different take on it.
