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Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia

Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia

'Inspiring'
The Guardian

'Excellent'

Runner's World

'Fascinating'
Publishers Weekly

'Through reading this book you will come to understand that the heart and soul of running are to be found in Ethiopia.'
Haile Gebrselassie

'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 Kenyans

'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.



Author: Michael Crawley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sport
Published: 01/12/2021
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.23lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781472975324

About the Author
Michael Crawley is a 2.20 marathon runner who has competed internationally for Scotland and Great Britain. He is Assistant Professor in Social Anthropology at Durham University. This is his first book.

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