In It for the Long Run

In It for the Long Run Synopsis

In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of his Pennine Way record attempt in July 2020. In July 1989, Mike Hartley set the Fastest Known Time (FKT) record for the Pennine Way, running Britain’s oldest National Trail in a little over two days and seventeen hours. He didn’t stop to sleep, but did break for fifteen minutes for fish and chips. Hartley’s record stood for thirty-one years, until two attempts were made on it in two weeks in the summer of 2020. First, American John Kelly broke Hartley’s record by less than an hour, then Hall knocked another two hours off Kelly’s time.

Hall used his record attempt to highlight environmental issues: his attempt was carbon negative, he used no plastics, and he and his pacing runners collected litter as they went, while also raising money for Greenpeace. A vegan, Hall used no animal products on his attempt. Scrawled on his arm in permanent marker was ‘FFF’, signifying the three things that matter most to him: Family, Friends, Future. 

Packed with dry wit and humour, In It for the Long Run tells of Hall’s four-year preparation for his attempt, and of the run itself. He also gives us an autobiographical insight into the deranged world of midlife crisis ultramarathon running and record attempts.

Damian Hall : ‘I’ve set five running records and had numerous running adventures in Britain’s lumpy places and further afield too. They’ve sometimes been films or magazine stories, but have often only shown half the story, so I thought I’d waffle on a bit more about my hallucinations, hedgehog attacks and the alarming amounts of custard’.

***In It for the Long Run is Vertebrate's first carbon negative book. The publishers employed the environmental consultancy Our Carbon and worked with Trees not Tees to arrange peat restoration, tree planting and carbon capture.