Welcome to the latest Ageing Runner Reading recommendation You can see a list of all my reading recommendations here and sign up for the Ageing Runner newsletter here to keep unto date with the latest research on running as we get older. – Chris
An article in the Sunday Times from Richard Askwith. I read Richard’s ‘Feet in the Clouds’ a few years ago which tracked his exploration of fell running in my part of the world. It meant that I recognised legend Kenny Stuart when I bumped into him on the side of Ingleborough a few years ago.
A few years on, he has written a book called: The Race Against Time – Adventure in late-life running in which he describes going from a ‘knackered’ 59 year old runner to a 62 year old runner full of vim and vigour. I was drawn in by his description of running being intimately connected to his sense of self. Me too. I am not sure how but it struck a chord.
Askwith describes that although 1.25 millions runners in the UK are over the age of 40, four out of five will have given up by the age of 65. He didn’t want that to be him. Me neither.
That leaves about 240,000 runners over the age of 65 with 35,000 being over the age of 75. He really wanted to know how they are managing to do that and his book is his exploration amongst the world of older runners. He finds that there is no one secret but consistently amongst older runners, their habit brightens their lives.
Interestingly, he finds that training intensely was a common theme. I am glad about that. It isn’t about taking it easy but it is about respected the time it takes to recover after hard sessions. He recommends resistance training, being aware of diet and exercises for both flexibility and balance as we run and get older.
He found that older runners were tough. they keep going. That resonated with me. I am not the best at anything but I do keep going when most people stop. Older runners don’t ignore their mortality and that gives them the freedom to seize every day, stop living cocooned within the blanket of sensibleness which is a feature of modern living [My thoughts].
For an ageing runner, Richard Askwith’s book looks like essential reading.
References
