Definitive guide to running in Ethiopia
Kenya is often described as ‘the land of runners’ but its east African neighbour Ethiopia is just as deserving of the accolade. Books, magazine features and television documentaries have tended to focus moreso on Kenya, yet with athletes such as Abebe Bikila, Haile Gebrselassie, Mamo Wolde, Tirunesh Dibaba and Kenenisa Bekele, it is about time Ethiopia fell more into the spotlight.
Michael Crawley’s new book – Out of Thin Air – certainly does the world of Ethiopian running justice and will comfortably become the definitive guide to what makes the sport tick in that country. Drawing on rich experiences from training in Addis Ababa and the nearby Entoto Mountains, Crawley has captured the unique culture of athletics in the area with a colourful story that includes everything from hyenas to witchcraft.
Unlike the publication’s title, the book did not quite come out of thin air. Back in 2016 I was contacted by his coach, Max Coleby, who encouraged me to publish a feature by Crawley in AW on his time spent in Ethiopia during the previous year. With hindsight the article was a prelude to the book, but in the subsequent four years he found a publisher and fleshed out the magazine feature into a 250-odd page hardback book.
Crawley writes with authority and knows his stuff. Assistant professor in social anthropology at Durham University, he has also run the marathon in 2:20 – a time he achieved in Frankfurt two years ago. Such was the degree to which he immersed himself in Ethiopian life, he even learned Amharic.
This is his first book but you would not realise it from reading it. Right from the start it captures your attention with well-told stories and a wonderful description of life as a runner in Ethiopia. Either Crawley has a great memory for detail or he maintains a very well-kept diary.
In the book we join him on an Ethiopian adventure that begins with a crack of dawn training run in the Entoto Mountains and ends in the Frankfurt Marathon. But this is not about him, but more so he seeks to highlight the world of Ethiopian running and the athletes and coaches he befriends during his journey.
Not surprisingly the book has already been dubbed as an Ethiopian equivalent to Adharanand Finn’s Running with the Kenyans. For sure, if you enjoyed Running with the Kenyans, then you will like Out of Thin Air. Yet Crawley’s book is far from a carbon copy follow-up and is an entirely different story from the one Finn put together.
» Out of Thin Air by Michael Crawley is published by Bloomsbury and is out now
Keen readers of AW might remember the graphic novel book called The Murder Mile by Brighton athlete Paul Collicutt.
Now the same publisher – Self Made Hero – has brought out a book about Emil Zatopek with illustrations by Jaromir Svejdik and words by Jan Novak.
In the book the story of Zatopek’s athletics achievements are retold but like all good books it is also a love story as it recounts how he met and married Dana Zatopkova.
This book follows – but is not related – to the biographies on Zatopek that came out four years ago.
» Zatopek is published by Self Made Hero and is out this month
Markus Torgeby was a promising steeplechaser when, aged 20, he decided to go off the grid by living alone outdoors in the remote forests of his native Sweden.
In 2015 he brought out a book called The Runner and now he has done a follow-up book called Under the Open Skies with photographs from his wife, Frida, and lots of advice and inspiration on the joys of spending time outdoors.
Torgeby's story of self survival has propelled him to mini celebrity status and in Under the Open Skies he offers a practical guide to living in the fresh air and why such a lifestyle is good for your physical and mental wellbeing.
» Under the Open Skies: A Practical Guide To Living Close To Nature by Markus and Frida Torgeby is published by Simon & Schuster
If you read the October issue of AW’s new monthly magazine, you will have seen a feature by Shane Benzie on running technique.
This was based on his new book, The Lost Art of Running, where he has travelled the world – from Ethiopia and Kenya to the Arctic Circle and the Sahara Desert – to learn about human movement.
It's already proving a popular read among the runner community and provides food for thought if you are interested in biomechanics and elements of running such as cadence and stride length.
» The Lost Art of Running: A Journey to Rediscover the Forgotten Essence of Human Movement by Shane Benzie with Tim Major is published by Bloomsbury Sport
(Lead photo by Mark Shearman)
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