Michael Crawley – författare

‘Full of wonderful insights and lessons from a world where the ability to run is viewed as something almost mysterious and magical.’ - Adharanand Finn, author of Running with the KenyansWhat we can learn from Ethiopian running culture – written by an anthropologist and 2:20 marathon runner who trained with the Ethiopians. ‘Ethiopia is a place where I have been told that energy is controlled by angels and demons and where witchdoctors can help you to acquire another runner’s power. It is a place where an anonymous runner in the forest told me, miming an imaginary scoreboard and with a completely straight face, that he had dreamt that he would run 10km in 25 minutes. It is a place where they tell me that the air at Mount Entoto will transform me into a 2.08 marathon runner. It is a place, in short, of wisdom and magic, where dreaming is still very much alive.’Why does it make sense to Ethiopian runners to get up at 3am to run up and down a hill? Who would choose to train on almost impossibly steep and rocky terrain, in hyena territory? And how come Ethiopian men hold six of the top ten fastest marathon times ever?Michael Crawley spent fifteen months in Ethiopia training alongside (and sometimes a fair way behind) runners at all levels of the sport, from night watchmen hoping to change their lives to world class marathon runners, in order to answer these questions.Follow him into the forest as he attempts to keep up and get to the heart of their success.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2025 SPORTS PERFORMANCE BOOK OF THE YEAR'A fascinating and multilayered exploration of what it means to endure'Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure'Engaging... [endurance sport] comes to lyrical life'The TLSThe author of Out of Thin Air, winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022, journeys through different cultures to find out the meaning of endurance.So many of us are embracing endurance sports – whether it is running an ultra-marathon, taking on long-distance cycling events or even climbing Mount Everest. But what is it that makes us voluntarily do exhausting things? When we lace up our running shoes or jump on our bike, are we embracing freedom, or are we simply reproducing ideas about productivity and competition from the world of work? And what kinds of broader social and spiritual significance does endurance have indifferent parts of the world?To the Limit sets out to rediscover the joy of moving together as a group – whether it’s running the length of the Lake District in a day, or navigating the descents of the Sindhupalchok International Trail Race in Nepal. It shows us how endurance activities can help bring people together, and even change the way we think about the natural world and our place in it.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2025 SPORTS PERFORMANCE BOOK OF THE YEAR'A fascinating and multilayered exploration of what it means to endure'Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure'Engaging... [endurance sport] comes to lyrical life'The TLSThe author of Out of Thin Air, winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022, journeys through different cultures to find out the meaning of endurance.So many of us are embracing endurance sports – whether it is running an ultra-marathon, taking on long-distance cycling events or even climbing Mount Everest. But what is it that makes us voluntarily do exhausting things? When we lace up our running shoes or jump on our bike, are we embracing freedom, or are we simply reproducing ideas about productivity and competition from the world of work? And what kinds of broader social and spiritual significance does endurance have indifferent parts of the world?To the Limit sets out to rediscover the joy of moving together as a group – whether it’s running the length of the Lake District in a day, or navigating the descents of the Sindhupalchok International Trail Race in Nepal. It shows us how endurance activities can help bring people together, and even change the way we think about the natural world and our place in it.