Neil Murray &
The Way of the Runner by Adharanand Finn
An enjoyable read on running and an insightful look at why the Japanese are so good at long-distance running. I also enjoyed learning about ekiden, something that’s incredibly popular in Japan yet I’d never heard of before.
- Edition
- ISBN 9781681771212
Reviews
An enjoyable read on running and an insightful look at why the Japanese are so good at long-distance running. I also enjoyed learning about ekiden, something that’s incredibly popular in Japan yet I’d never heard of before.
After reading “Running with the Kenyans” I was looking forward to this book because I enjoyed the first one. But was disappointed. This book was too focused around the philosophical aspects of Japanese running and the story itself was a bit slow. Yes I did learn more about the enigma of Japanese runners, but it was too long a story about something that could be told a lot easier or succinctly.
I had no idea that Japan was so obsessed with running. One of their ekidens – a long-distance relay race that's unique to Japan – gets viewing figures equivalent to the Super Bowl. In this book, Finn moves to Japan to find out more about its obsession with the sport and what we can learn from it. If you're a runner, and even if you're not, it's a fascinating read. And it totally made me want to go back to Japan. "Running, too, can be a way to self-fulfilment. It has a purity, a power, a way of clearing the mind, of putting you in touch with your essence, that few other activities possess. Sometimes it may seem unlikely, as we creak and struggle along, our legs heavy and tired, but then come those moments when we break through and our bodies begin to feel light, strong, at one with the earth."
Highlights
I don't need to look down, I can feel it. My feet landing, crash, crash, crash, on the heel first each time. How is this happening? And then it all makes sense. This is why my achilles are hurting. I'm wearing minimal shoes, but once I get tired, my body starts to lose its form, it starts to collapse in on itself. My core still isn't strong enough to hold my form. Trip switches are being blown all over the place. Muscles are shutting down, saving themselves in case of emergency.
Reminder how core strength is fundamental to running form.
Rather than being frowned upon, the practice known as inemuri - or ’sleeping while present’ - is considered a sign of commitment to hard work. One day I'm invited to give a talk to a lecture hall of over two hundred students at Ritsumeikan University about my experiences in Kenya. Before I begin, the usual lecturer sidles over to me and whispers in my ear. ‘Lots of them will probably fall asleep while you're talking. Don’t be offended, it's normal.’
Small portions and restricted calories are buzzwords in the western health world right now, yet these things have been widely practised for years in Japan. The common Japanese phrase hara hachi bu means ‘Eat until you are eighty per cent full.’
At the heart of it is a fundamental difference in the perception of a person's place in society. One saying I hear repeatedly in Japan is The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. To western ears, this sounds terrible. It says, dont stand out, don't try to do anything different, but keep your head down and work together.
Kyoto also happened to be the birthplace of ekiden running. During Japans Edo period (1603 to 1868) couriers ran messages between Tokyo and Kyoto, the old Imperial capital. They used to stop at stations dotted along the way to rest and get refreshment, often passing the message on to another courier to carry along the next leg of the journey. lt was from this that the idea for ekiden races originated.
