Britain's running boom: Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival explores joys and challenges of putting one foot in front of the other
Running is having a moment. From the explosion of parkrun and social running clubs to record demand for major races, more of us are pulling on our trainers, and it isn't just the hardcore pounding the streets chasing personal bests.
For some, it's about fitness. For others, it's about headspace, friendship, confidence, escape, or simply an excuse to get out of the house. Somewhere along the way, running has become as much about community and how we live as it is about how fast we can move. This year's Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival explores that running boom through two very different runners.
TV journalist Sophie Raworth is the special guest at the Yorkshire Life Literary Lunch on October 22, where she will be talking about her new memoir, Running on Air – a story of broadcasting, resilience, adventure and what keeps us moving forward. One of Britain’s most recognisable broadcasters, Sophie has spent more than three decades covering some of the world’s biggest stories but away from the newsroom, she discovered another kind of challenge -endurance running.
What began as a personal pursuit has taken her through marathons, ultramarathons and extraordinary physical tests, offering escape from the pressures of broadcasting and revealing just how far determination, and a willingness to keep putting one foot in front of the other can take you. Sophie is also the special guest at this year’s Raworths Runs which takes place in Harrogate on October 23. The 5km run through the town is a free community event that starts from the Cenotaph at 6.30am.
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Continuing the running theme is the popular blogger, content creator and marathon enthusiast Alison Stankard – better known online as Totes Inappropes – who is set to bring her own irreverent take on the subject when she appears at the festival on October 24. Why do perfectly sensible people get up before dawn to run? When does owning one pair of trainers turn into owning twelve? And at what point does a gentle jog become an all-consuming way of life? These are all questions she asks in her refreshingly honest look at the strange, obsessive and surprisingly joyful world of running.
Alison’s debut book, Are You a Running W*nker?, charts her journey from reluctant runner to marathons and ultramarathons, taking in training plans, race-day nerves, expensive kit, and all the peculiar rituals runners convince themselves are completely normal. But this is about more than just a story about putting in the hard yards. She also explores motivation, confidence, changing bodies, midlife and menopause, and the extraordinary communities that running can create.
Together, Sophie and Alison capture Britain's running boom - the challenge and the joy, the serious and the ridiculous, and why putting one foot in front of the other seems to be helping so many of us find our tribe.
- harrogateinternationalfestivals.com