
Out of Thin Air
Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia
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Narrated by:
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Raj Ghatak
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By:
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Michael Crawley
Bloomsbury presents Out of Thin Air by Michael Crawley, read by Raj Ghatak.
‘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
What we can learn from Ethiopian running culture – written by an anthropologist and 2:20 marathon runner who trained with the Ethiopians.
‘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.
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Excellent study in dedication
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I enjoyed the authors humor as well. I will reread this book!
Worth the read!
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The things I found particularly fascinating about Ethiopian running culture: (1) Running is an occupation in Ethiopia; (2) Ethiopian runners place great emphasis on where they run and they draw energy from their surroundings; (3) Running on different surfaces is part of a runners development and each different surface serves a specific purpose; (4) Running is a social activity, very few serious runners ever run alone and they run in single file, or two abreast, following a leader; (5) Serious runners make careful choices about when to use a GPS and when not to; (6) They almost always use time as a key guide for how long to run (not distance).
If you enjoyed Adharanand Finn's books ("Running with the Kenyans", "The Way of the Runner") or Chris McDougall's "Born to Run" then you will really enjoy this book. It is highly recommended!!!
Excellent Book
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Amazing Insight
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couldn't stop listening
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Really a nice read
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Great read
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Some refreshing perspective
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