This classic tale of fell-running and obsession, first published in 2004, remains a cult hit with runners and non-runners alike.
Reissued by Aurum in 2013 and 2021, Feet in the Clouds received its most comprehensive make-over in 2024, with a new 20th anniversary edition, complete with an introduction by Robert Macfarlane and an updated epilogue by the author.
Beyond the packaging, meanwhile, the book itself retains its enduring appeal, as very personal exploration of one of Britain’s strangest and most exhilarating sports.
What the critics said:
“A minor masterpiece” Sunday Times
“Sports book of the season – a terrific story” Blake Morrison, The Guardian
“A wonderful, funny and surprisingly moving tale” Daily Telegraph
“A lovely little book” The New Statesman
“A beautifully told and at times very personal story” Scotland on Sunday
“One of the best books about the extremes of sporting endeavour that you will ever read” The Independent on Sunday
“A wonderful evocation… I’ve read Feet In The Clouds four or five times now… I always end it rallied, inspired, cheered” Robert Macfarlane, author of Mountains of the Mind
“A truly superb book… Inspirational as well as engrossing” Westmorland Gazette
What Runner’s World said (2010):
What Runner’s World said (2023):
“Askwith is arguably running’s finest writer, and this is his finest book: a hymn to the ecstasy and agony of fell running, complete with interviews with the sport’s under-the-radar stars. Not just one of running’s best books, but one of the best books about sport, full stop.”
Review:
Read Frank Graham’s review in The Sunday Times
Awards:
Feet in the Clouds won the Best New Writer prize at the British Sports Publishing Awards (2005). It also won the Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape and Tradition. It was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and for the Boardman-Tasker Prize.
Other background:
Read a feature about fell-running by the author.
Read a feature by the author about fell-running and the coronavirus lockdown of 2020.
Watch a (very old) talk about fell-running by the author.
Purchase:
Buy on Amazon: click here
Download the eBook from iTunes: click here
Listen:
Buy the audiobook (read by the author) from Audible: click here.
richardaskwith.com 
4 responses to “Feet in the Clouds (2004)”
[…] a more rounded runner, and less prone to injury. In Richard Askwith’s brilliant book “Feet In the Clouds” he recounts the battles between strong climbers and strong descenders in English fell races. […]
[…] Askwith’s Feet in the Clouds. I was totally absorbed by this wonderful book about the history, passion, love and life of fell […]
[…] recently tried fell running for the first time and have been inspired by books such as ‘Feet in the Clouds‘ and ‘There’s No Map in Hell‘. I was therefore fascinated to read that […]
[…] us, though its past tense, fell, is reserved in these parts for mountains and upland moor (and fell running, of course) – from the Old Norse fell & fjall for the same. Perhaps it’s partly the […]