Richard Askwith

An award-winning author with seven books to his name and over 40 years’ experience in journalism, Richard Askwith is best known for his writings about running. Feet in the Clouds, his memoir of fell-running and obsession, was published 20 years ago and ignited an explosion of interest in extreme adventure-racing, as well as arguably creating a new sub-genre of immersive sports-writing. Subsequent running-related works have included Today We Die a Little, an acclaimed biography of the great Czech athlete, Emil Zátopek; and Running Free, a very personal account of “a runner’s journey back to nature”. A former executive editor of The Independent, Richard has spent most of his life in living in Northamptonshire, where he now writes features for publications such as The Times, Saga and Runner’s World. His latest book, The Race Against Time, chronicles Richard’s struggles, as a “keen but mediocre” runner in his mid-sixties, with the challenges of ageing. The Observer described it as: “A hymn to the benefits of running, of being active, of the resilience of the human spirit, no matter your age… Inspirational.”