Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession (Paperback)

The concept of fell-running is simple: it's a sport that involves running over mountains - sometimes one, sometimes many. It's also immensely demanding.

While running uphill is a stamina-sapping slog, running pell-mell down the other side requires the agility - and even recklessness - of a mountain goat. And there's the weather to contend with. 

Richard Askwith explores the world of fell-running in the only legitimate way: by donning his Ron Hill vest and studded shoes to spend a season running as many of the great fell races as he can, from Borrowdale to Ben Nevis: an arduous schedule that tests the very limits of one's stamina and courage. 

Ultimately Askwith's obsession drives him to attempt the ultimate challenge: the Bob Graham Round - a non-stop circuit of 42 of the Lake District's highest peaks to be completed within 24 hours.

This is a portrait of one of the few sports to have remained utterly true to its roots - in which the point is not fame or fortune but to run the ancient, wild landscape, and to be a hero, if at all, within one's own valley. Feet in the Clouds is a chronicle of a masochistic but admirable sporting obsession, an insight into one of the oldest extreme sports, and a lyrical tribute to Britain's mountains and the men and women who live among them.