If I could shave a minute off my marathon PB for every book or article I've read that claims to be an "essential" guide to running, then Eliud Kipchoge wouldn't see me for dust!
So first of all bravo to Robbie for jumping head first into this crowded space for his first book. It may be his first book, but it is far from the first time that Robbie has published his advice and musings on getting better at the sport that he so clearly loves, and is such an excellent practitioner of. Numerous articles in print running magazines and e-zines testify to his ability to keep readers interested, challenge themselves and avoid some of the classic errors that we all have made. He's also pretty well qualified in that respect. He has the letters after his name, owns the GB vests and the medals, and now has a "stable" of remotely coached athletes of all abilities who are getting the results too.
So what has he given us here, what's new, essential and worthy of our time? And will you be bored as hell by tip number 101, never mind 1001?
To start with the first one, a philosophy of "tried and trusted" and "running as a simple sport" clearly underpins the many gems of advice in this book. You may have read or heard some of the advice before, but not in a way that is succinct enough to make it memorable and almost, well, obvious.
Runners of all levels (and ages - I'm 66 in life years and 39 in running years) will find their essentials here. His range is "couch to 5 km" to Spartathlon and Lands End to John o'Groats. And if you are leaning towards the upper end on the distance curve of that range, or want to be, then this book will make you think, avoid mistakes and pitfalls, and perhaps chuckle at yourself a bit. The advice to would be and existing ultra runners, marathon and above, is some of the best, and least jargon infused that Ive read anywhere.
I would guarantee this book will not bore you if you have any desire to improve yourself as a runner. I went cover to cover as that's what reviewers are meant to do, so I got the 1001 in about 5 big doses. But that's not how I'm going to use it. This is the runners "loo book" par excellence. In fact the 1001 includes no less than 13 tips on the pre-race toilet and numerous other poo related gems! It's easy to just pick it up for 5 minutes and it will deliver a series of almost mantra-like nuggets on the running topic that may have you preoccupied. It will probably make you chuckle too, which may get you strange looks when you emerge from that essential pre-run ritual.
The format makes it very easy to pick up and put down, it is broken down into obvious category sections and it is sprinkled with some great photos. The tips are all written in a way to be remembered. Pithy and common sense focused.
But I'm not going to quote lots of the tips here, as that's not fair on the author. Lord knows they earn little enough for all their hard work these days of derisory royalties and plagiarism. So I will try to summarise what it meant to me without giving too much away.
Here you will find all the stuff that you normally have to learn from experience, mostly from mistakes, some of them very costly. It's an ultimate insiders' view, wrapped up tight, always memorable and often amusing. I kept imagining a little Robbie perched on my shoulder chirping the appropriate tip in my ear just at the
right moment on a run, or during "run pondering", helping me to get it right. So he will remind me to scrunch my race number up first before pinning it
on my vest on a windy day to stop it flapping around, and give me so
many feeding hacks for my long ultra run that I simply cannot run
out of fuel when the going gets tough.
Buy this book and you have just recruited uber positive and enthusiastic Robbie as your support crew, an area he totally excels in out there in the real world of high performance. Two examples of this stand out for me. The first was in 2016, when Robbie crewed partner, and now wife, Natalie to a superb finish in the 330 km Tor des Geants mountain odyssey in the Italian alps. And the second was his, "in the saddle" crewing of Dan Lawson to his incredible Lands End to John o'Groats record in 2020. Most high achievers in these sort of challenges say they couldn't have done it without their crew, and with this book you will get a sample of that from one of the best in the business.
I wish Robbie great success with this book, and genuinely believe he has written one of those essential books for the modern runner. Whilst it's advice is incredibly relevant "to the now" of running, it manages to be rooted to the ideas that have always worked.
If you do decide to buy it, why not give the author and publisher a boost by buying direct?
It's out on November 15th.
Link to Publisher of 1001 Running Tips
Evolved to run. Born to run. Older, greyer, still running. Follow @Nariokotomeboy
