Running Challenges by Keri Wallace
I first heard about this book from a friend of mine, Jamie Rutherford, who told me some of his photographs were being used for an upcoming book by Keri Wallace and that there may be a photo of me in it. Intrigued I had a quick look on the Vertebrate Publishing website and I very quickly decided it was a book I was definitely going to get. I’m a sucker for a running challenge. I pre-ordered the book and waited a few weeks for it to land on my doormat.
The first thing that struck me is how beautiful it looks. An initial thumb through will show you epic photographs of mountain ridges, rolling hills, and gorgeous coast lines. It’s an excellent ‘coffee table’ book that will inspire people to pick it up and have a look whether they are into running or not!
In a nutshell, the book contains 100 of the best running challenges in the UK as chosen by Keri Wallace, founder of Girls on Hills and incredible fell and mountain runner. I can imagine Keri had quite a lot of routes to choose from so the routes in here must be the best of the best.
In the introduction Keri discusses that the rewarding bit of any challenge isn’t just in completing it, but the weeks and months of researching, planning and training. Having completed some running challenges myself (some which are in this book), I wholeheartedly agree.
There is a great sense of excitement in having spent time and energy plotting and planning even before getting to the point where you put on your running gear and lace up your shoes. As Keri says “I believe much of the intrigue and motivation we derive from running challenges (and ultimately the satisfaction we feel on completing them) comes directly from the time and effort we put into their conception”. But sometimes we don’t know where to start, or we just want a bit of inspiration… and this is where Keri’s book comes in!
The 100 challenges in this book are divided geographically, with challenges in England, Scotland, and Wales. The challenges themselves range from 5k Parkruns to the insane Off-Road JOGLE, which is over 1400km and traverses the length of the UK. This means there is something for everyone, whether you have just started running or are a seasoned ultra runner.
There is also a nice mix of challenges that you would do by yourself or with friends, as well as pre-existing races where you pay your entry fee and run with other likeminded folk. It also enables a nice progression from the easier challenges, to the somewhat tricky, to the downright difficult. The format is the same for each of the challenges, which enables you to get the key information at a quick glance. It shows just enough information to pique your interest and inspire you to start looking into them further. Each entry starts with an idea of what the terrain is like (trail, fell, or mountain), and the level of navigation that will be required, and goes on to show the elevation gain, an estimate of how long it will take, and a rough route map showing hill summits or points of interest.
Grid references for the start/end point, public transport and parking information are also on there. Keri then expertly provides a succinct but informative history of the route/challenge, some information on shorter options if you’re not quite up to the full thing, and the names of any races that take place on sections of the route. All of this gives you just enough information to start to plan your own adventures using Keri’s suggestions as a starting point. And that is exactly what she wants you to use this book for.
I really love this book and it will be one I’ll constantly be going back to looking for inspiration. When I first got it obviously had a quick count to see how many of the challenges in the book I had already completed, and it’s a paltry 5. But that’s exciting, it means I have the opportunity to experience 95 other routes. Whether I end up completing all the challenges in this book is not the point, it’s the fact I have access to a collection of incredible routes and challenges that span the country that I can use for inspiration in the creation of my own adventures. I can imagine in 20 years time my copy will be tattered and covered in notes where I’ve ticked off, expanded, or edited the routes.
All in all, if you are into running and like the idea of challenging yourself I would fully recommend this book! I’ll finish with some of Keri’s words… ‘there is no growth, without challenge’.
Oh, and if you were wondering, the photo of me is on page 25, on the Edale Skyline entry.
About the author: Chris Andrade is a trail and ultra runner, with several podium places under his belt including winning Hardmoors 110 earlier this year. He is also an INOV8 athlete. Chris purchased this book himself.
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