This Is Running: A Celebration of the World of Running, Exploring the Culture, History, Brands, Races and People Behind It
About the book
Author: Raziq Rauf
Publisher: Batsford
More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.
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Bookshop.org (print or ebook)
My review
Raziq Rauf is one of our best thought leaders in running culture. He has had a rich career in journalism and today writes an excellent, well-read Substack newsletter called Running Sucks (a tongue-in-cheek title). He is known for diving deep into both the good and the bad in order to push to make running culture a better, more thoughtful, more impactful space.
His new book, This Is Running, leans heavily on the celebration side of things. While there isn’t room in a single book for him to bring that same depth his newsletter is known for to every topic, it covers a ton of different aspects of running culture with love and care. It’s also a gorgeous book with incredible photos that offers a very rich physical reading experience, almost like a coffee table book — but you’ll actually want to read cover to cover.
As a reader, I especially loved the introduction, in which he likens running to reading. Both experiences leave you changed for the better. I teared up a little at that!
Whether you’re a member of the running community or curious about how much more there is to it than you know, I think you’ll be glad you picked this one up. Get yourself a copy!
