I’ve been earning my living from journalism since 1980. Most of those decades have been spent as a sub-editor, commissioning editor or editor, but I’ve also done my share of writing.
Mercifully, much of my output has long since been consigned to landfill, via the cages of various parrots. But here is a small selection of relatively recent articles, for anyone who’s curious, along with an obscure archive of my more ancient writings, for those with nothing better to do.
Game of bones
How high-end dinosaur fossils became the latest must-have item for super-rich collectors (from The Times, 11 May 2023)
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Chariots of Fire: My part in its Oscar-winning glory
Forty years on from its release, a very personal celebration of the greatest of all running films (Runner’s World, July 2021)
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Donald Trump, madness and the bloody history of political infamy
Some lurid but timely reflections on the problem of narcissism in high places (The Independent, 6 January 2021)
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Who needs the Lords? Bring on the People’s Peers
An unorthodox but timely proposal (also made in my book, People Power) for parliamentary reform (from Unherd, 18 March 2019)
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Imaginary fell-running in the Lake District
Perhaps the strangest article I’ve written about my favourite sport, yet also curiously evocative (Financial Times, 23 April 2020)
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Stradivarius: the mystery and the miracle
The enduring wonder of Antonio Stradivari’s violins (The Times, 2 December 2023).
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Milada Horáková, Enemy of the People
Reflections on a political atrocity that still casts a shadow over central Europe (The Independent, 31 May 2020)
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Hicham El Guerrouj’s race for redemption
Reliving what may have been the most heart-stopping Olympic race of my life-time (Runner’s World, August 2020)
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Running free during lockdown
Rediscovering the healing power of “natural” running during the coronavirus pandemic (Runner’s World, September 2020)
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Covid-19 and the Olympics
Some idealistic reflections on the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games (Unherd, 3 April 2020)
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In search of sustainable goats in the Gobi desert (with Luc Jacquet)
Exploring sustainability in Inner Mongolia (The Times, 1 October 2019)
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When we were martyrs
When sport collides with politics, then and now (Telegraph Magazine, 4 August 2018)
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TIME OUT OF MIND: MYSTERIES OF THE EXHAUSTED BRAIN (Mondial, July 2017)
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ON THE EVE OF THE BREXIT VOTE: A WARNING (The Independent, 22 June 2016)
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BACK TO NATURE: A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR A RUNNERS’ REVOLUTION (The Independent, 3 March 2014)
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THE BOMBING OF THE BOSTON MARATHON (The Independent, 16 April 2013)
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ANOTHER COUNTRY: THE DEATH OF THE ENGLISH VILLAGE (The Independent, 31 March 2008)
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RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! A STORM OVER A MOUNTAIN MARATHON (The Independent, 28 October 2008)
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BRING BACK NATIONAL SERVICE (BUT NOT FOR THE YOUNG) (The Independent, 29 December 2005)
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THE JOY OF PAIN – REFLECTIONS ON THE BEN NEVIS RACE (Observer, 6 February 2005)
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WALK THIS WAY (Alfred Wainwright, a very English hero, from The Independent, 2 July 2005)
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And finally…
Also, for those with too much time on their hands, a random collection of older articles that I haven’t got round to deleting but probably should….
richardaskwith.com 