New books offer inspiration and advice for runners
Author Claire Maxted wasn’t a fan of running at school. It was too competitive and painful. Yet such is the beauty of trail running, she has become a disciple of the sport.
More than that, in fact, she has even grown into a fully-fledged expert on this most picturesque strand of athletics. After co-founding Trail Running magazine and going on to edit the title, she has been asked by publishing giants Bloomsbury to write The Ultimate Trail Running Handbook.
As the tag line for the book says, this book will help you “get fit, confident and skilled-up to go from 5km to 50km”. It is also billed as a trail runner’s new best friend whether you are a beginner or more experienced and faster. However, I would say it is geared more toward beginners who enjoy the idea of trail running or are just discovering its delights.
The advice covers every imaginable angle from the standard areas of training, injury prevention and nutrition through to more trail-specific elements such as night running tips, the use of poles and navigation advice. There are also plenty of bitesize tips with various ‘trail hacks’ and ‘myth busting facts’ breaking up the pages. In addition, lots of the information is very modern too such as a section on the best apps and how to use foam rollers and kinesio tape – none of which really existed until the last decade or so.
Trail running is, of course, a relatively new phenomenon. Back in the 1970s or 1980s running shoe brands did not make ‘trail running shoes’. There weren’t really trail running events either. There were either road races, track events, cross-country and fell running and ‘off-road’ or ‘multi-terrain’ races.
But in the last 20 years trail running has become a big sub-section of athletics in its own right and now warrants its own books on the subject. Not surprisingly despite its short history there have been other books on the subject too. Sarah Rowell, a former British marathon record-holder with 2:28:06, has written a book about trail and mountain running. But Maxted’s book modernises things nicely and, best of all, the photographs liven things up considerably.
In well over 200 pages there is not a spread in the book that does not have mouth-wateringly attractive images from the trail running scene. Certainly, this alone is enough to make you want to get out and explore the trails on foot.
There are lots of quotes from various people in the book, too. Broadcast journalist Vassos Alexander and trail runner Emelie Forsberg write the foreword, for starters, whereas there is also a line from Paul Larkins, a former reporter and acting editor of AW, not to mention 3:35 1500m runner.
He says in this book: “Why do I love trail running? No stopwatch, no set distance, no agenda. Just you and the countryside – superb.”
» The Ultimate Trail Running Handbook by Claire Maxted is published by Bloomsbury for £16.99
There is a very strong chance this book will interest you as it caters for neither complete beginners nor elite professional runners but instead the ‘midpackers’ who form the bulk of any footrace.
Co-authors Martin Yelling and Anji Andrews offer insightful and entertaining advice for runners who fall into this category. Their goal, as they state early on, is that they “want this to be a book that nourishes your running, that helps you to cultivate running progress and that brings even more joy to your running”.
It certainly does that and is split into logical sections that firstly describes their target reader – the midpack runner – before going on to psychological issues like motivation and confidence, how to avoid injuries, training (from 5km to the marathon and beyond), nutrition and how to nail your race day. It is also a light-hearted read with one section, for example, titled ‘don’t press the dickhead button’.
There are, however, only a few pencil-style illustrations to break up the words. In comparison, the trail running handbook reviewed above, which is published by the same company, clearly had a far bigger budget for images.
The words are the most important, though, and the authors of Running in the Midpack are experienced and authoritative. Yelling has, among other things, presented the Marathon Talk podcast for a number of years his PBs range from 14:26 for 5000m through to just outside nine hours for an ironman. Andrews, meanwhile, is a social media specialist and running coach and together they have combined to produce a book which aims to make you a stronger, more successful and happy runner.
» Running in the Midpack by Martin Yelling and Anji Andrews is published by Bloomsbury for £12.99
Many people spent the early months of the pandemic in lockdown learning new skills or catching up with jobs around the house. For John Turner of Blackheath & Bromley Harriers he began working on booklets on the history of his club.
Using extracts from the long-standing Blackheath Harriers’ Gazette and Club Record, he has published the first of several booklets covering the 1898-1948 period.
The club’s beginnings can actually be traced back to 1868 but the club newsletter started in 1898 and Turner has picked out the most interesting bits for a booklet that covers half a century of activity.
Some of the extracts make for a grim read due to a number of Blackheath athletes being killed in action during the world wars.
But there are lighter moments such as ‘advice for cross-country running’ in 1904 which suggested: “The ideal clothing for the pastime is flannel drawers reaching to the knee, a thin jersey with sweater on top, a stout pair of running shoes with short spikes and ankle straps attached; and woollen gloves should be worn when particularly cold.”
Famous athletes in the club’s history range from Sydney Wooderson through to Dina Asher-Smith and the former crops up in this booklet several times for his world and British record-breaking achievements.
Albert Hill, the 1920 Olympic 800m and 1500m champion, also appears in an extract in 1924 as having paid a visit to the club as a coach. The booklet is full of interesting snippets and we’re told volume two from 1949 onwards is in the works.
» Hurrah for the Squares Entwined – the first 50 years of the Blackheath Harriers’ Gazette and Club Record 1898-1948 is available from Andy Edwards for £9.99 + p&p by emailing [email protected]
