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Keep on Running: The Highs and Lows of a Marathon Addict
"Marathons make you miserable, but they also give you the most unlikely and the most indescribable pleasures. It’s a world that I love – a world unlocked when you dress up in lycra, put plasters on your nipples and run 26.2 miles in the company of upwards of 30,000 complete strangers." Phil Hewitt, who has completed over 20 marathons in conditions ranging from blistering heat to snow and ice, in locations from Berlin to New York, sets a cracking pace in this light-hearted account of his adventures on the road. This story of an ordinary guy’s addiction to running marathons looks at the highs and lows, the motivation that keeps you going when your body is crying out to stop, and tries to answer the ultimate question, ‘Why do you do it?’
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
May 1, 2017
Well, I ran it. I'm still alive, and I got a time I was happy with. Thanks for all the good luck wishes! :)
I’m getting up at 5.00am and setting off to the Milton Keynes Marathon to go and stretch my legs, so to speak. I’ve been reading this book over the last few months as a sort of preparation exercise. It doesn’t matter how much I train or how fit I am because if I’m not mentally ready I may as well stay at home. Self-belief is the key, crushing all negative thoughts about failure, ultimately pushing on to achieve something amazing for myself.
I’m not going to say anything to myself like “I hope it goes well” or such; it is going to go well. I am going to finish. I have a target time, which I’m going to run towards. My pockets are going to be stuffed full of food for when I hit the runner’s wall, which is normally at around mile 18 for me, I’ll have lots of energy: I’ll be loaded on carbs. This book has been a great help, reading about the journey of another as he headed towards marathon. It’s a good book, covering Hewitt’s training and motivations, though it did become dry towards the end. It lacks the artistry, wisdom and enthusiasm of Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
In part, Hewitt did his marathons to prove that wordy types, the writers, the journalists and the editors, can be just as fit and sporty if they so choose. My reasons for running a marathon are a little similar, though I’m trying to prove to myself what I can do rather than to prove it to anyone else. I want to push my limits in life and see how far I can go, intellectually and physically. I crave challenge, and this will be one hell of a challenge! This book captures all the addiction that comes with the sport. Once you start it gets in your blood, and you crave the outdoors. Sometimes there are few things as appealing as donning my running shoes and heading out on the open road, and running for miles and miles (with an audio book playing, of course.)
If I’m not on goodreads for a few days, it’s because I’m in bed recovering from my unusual birthday celebration! Honestly though, I’m just hoping I’ll be able to walk afterwards.
-marathon update to follow later this afternoon.
I’m getting up at 5.00am and setting off to the Milton Keynes Marathon to go and stretch my legs, so to speak. I’ve been reading this book over the last few months as a sort of preparation exercise. It doesn’t matter how much I train or how fit I am because if I’m not mentally ready I may as well stay at home. Self-belief is the key, crushing all negative thoughts about failure, ultimately pushing on to achieve something amazing for myself.
I’m not going to say anything to myself like “I hope it goes well” or such; it is going to go well. I am going to finish. I have a target time, which I’m going to run towards. My pockets are going to be stuffed full of food for when I hit the runner’s wall, which is normally at around mile 18 for me, I’ll have lots of energy: I’ll be loaded on carbs. This book has been a great help, reading about the journey of another as he headed towards marathon. It’s a good book, covering Hewitt’s training and motivations, though it did become dry towards the end. It lacks the artistry, wisdom and enthusiasm of Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
In part, Hewitt did his marathons to prove that wordy types, the writers, the journalists and the editors, can be just as fit and sporty if they so choose. My reasons for running a marathon are a little similar, though I’m trying to prove to myself what I can do rather than to prove it to anyone else. I want to push my limits in life and see how far I can go, intellectually and physically. I crave challenge, and this will be one hell of a challenge! This book captures all the addiction that comes with the sport. Once you start it gets in your blood, and you crave the outdoors. Sometimes there are few things as appealing as donning my running shoes and heading out on the open road, and running for miles and miles (with an audio book playing, of course.)
If I’m not on goodreads for a few days, it’s because I’m in bed recovering from my unusual birthday celebration! Honestly though, I’m just hoping I’ll be able to walk afterwards.
-marathon update to follow later this afternoon.
January 30, 2013
A lesson to every runner to remind us about how boring running talk is, a lesson to the rest of the world about how anything can be published thes days, and a lesson to myself to never, ever, ever discuss my favourite sport with anyone, ever again.
June 15, 2014
The reviews of this book seem unduly harsh. I've read a few running books by heroes of the sport and they're good but they're describing something at a level I can never hope to aspire to. What I liked about this book was that it was pitched at a more human level and describes mistakes we all make in the process of developing as a runner. OK, it has its flaws - moaning about stuff is never a good thing to read, he relies on clichés more than I would like and let's face it, how can you trust the judgement of someone who runs to Status Quo? As a book to read during marathon training, though, it's enjoyable and it's steeped in the spirit of the ordinary runner. Not the super-athlete, not the fun runner, but the dedicated, get-up-at-dawn competitor, struggling to chisel a couple of minutes off his PB. I like that.
March 4, 2018
A great bit of psychological training ahead of April.
August 22, 2024
really didn’t love it unfortunately, found it to drag along a bit too much.
June 12, 2014
I wish I could give this book a better review. Unfortunately, by the end of it I found myself struggling to stay interested. "Keep on Running" was not in the least bit inspiring to me, quite the opposite actually. Each of Phil's marathon stories basically fit the same pattern of complaining...about anything from race organization, getting lost while exploring host cities, (boo-hoo) too much walking the day before, etc. He would make sweeping, generalized statements about how marathoners think/act which were in most cases completely untrue. He is also the neediest runner I've ever come across. Several times he mentioned being disappointed that the crowd (or lack of familial presence) was the reason he was unable to 'rally' and get back on pace for a strong finish. Take ownership of your run, Phil. Take ownership. As for the marathons themselves, he repeated several of them so London in particular had nothing new to offer after the first appearance in the book...except maybe new splits. "Keep on Running" was dry reading and (compared to books like Bart Yasso's "My Life on the Run") completely uninspiring. It's focus on pace, finish times and the obsession over the need for 'perfect conditions' completely misses the point of what it means to be a marathoner.
With all of that said, the author has completed 23 marathons! Extra star based solely on that! Keep on running, Phil...and chill out a bit.
With all of that said, the author has completed 23 marathons! Extra star based solely on that! Keep on running, Phil...and chill out a bit.
October 9, 2015
This could have been something special; an ordinary guy's marathon journey. But it didn't quite hit the spot. I enjoyed the introduction to this odd world & could relate to a lot of what was said...I also aprpreciate it's based on the author's views and experiences...but it did irritate me when it came to general approach to running & the dismissive attitude to those doing shorter distances.
And there was a lot of complaining! I was looking for inspiration...still, I enjoyed reading about the races I'd done and some I'd like to, and no amount of complaining will change that!
Fine, without being anything special.
And there was a lot of complaining! I was looking for inspiration...still, I enjoyed reading about the races I'd done and some I'd like to, and no amount of complaining will change that!
Fine, without being anything special.
July 13, 2013
Probably not a great book if you're not about to run your first marathon, but sine I am, I enjoyed it! It did give a really good insight into the world of marathon running and convinced me at the very least, not to rule out running more than one. I also think I picked up a fair few tips along the way. It could be because my training's going ok now, or it could be because of the portrayal of the experience of marathon running (the good and the bad) in this book that I'm almost looking forward to the run now!
April 24, 2020
Relatively useless as a whole. Tone is unpleasant and oddly pompous. The guy runs marathons, events that are not exactly crazy hard nor peculiarly interesting when they're not happening to you.
He is sortof fast but not enough to win the things. It's not like there's an amazing take-away lesson beside "running is really nice".
So... yeah. Rather pointless.
He is sortof fast but not enough to win the things. It's not like there's an amazing take-away lesson beside "running is really nice".
So... yeah. Rather pointless.
September 20, 2020
It's boring.
September 13, 2024
This is the kind of book that I would never have thought I’d be interested in even as recently as a year ago. But as my interest in and passion for running has increased, I’ve found myself more and more drawn to books like this, which are basically running-themed memoirs for people who can’t get enough of putting their bodies through hell on the tracks and fields.
Hewitt is an above-average marathon runner, but he’s not one of the all-time greats and he’d be the first to admit that. But that’s good news, because that makes this memoir feel much more approachable to someone like me. At the time of reading it, I’d ran a half-marathon but not a full-length one, although I have a couple of potential targets in mind.
Hewitt worked as an arts writer and took up running after his publication was offered a free place in the London Marathon and the sports writer was too overweight to take it on. He ended up getting the bug and had run about a dozen or so different marathons by the time that this book came out in around 2011.
I can’t help wondering how many more marathons Hewitt has run since then, and indeed whether he still has the buzz for running a dozen or so years later. And that kind of points to the only thing that I didn’t get on with, which is that the book occasionally feels dated.
That’s because Hewitt’s runs pre-date smartphones, Garmins and Strava, and so when he’s writing about some of his experiences, I couldn’t help getting the heebie jeebies and thinking that all of his woes could have been solved if he’d just turned his Strava on. But that’s not his fault, it’s just the nature of time.
Hewitt is an above-average marathon runner, but he’s not one of the all-time greats and he’d be the first to admit that. But that’s good news, because that makes this memoir feel much more approachable to someone like me. At the time of reading it, I’d ran a half-marathon but not a full-length one, although I have a couple of potential targets in mind.
Hewitt worked as an arts writer and took up running after his publication was offered a free place in the London Marathon and the sports writer was too overweight to take it on. He ended up getting the bug and had run about a dozen or so different marathons by the time that this book came out in around 2011.
I can’t help wondering how many more marathons Hewitt has run since then, and indeed whether he still has the buzz for running a dozen or so years later. And that kind of points to the only thing that I didn’t get on with, which is that the book occasionally feels dated.
That’s because Hewitt’s runs pre-date smartphones, Garmins and Strava, and so when he’s writing about some of his experiences, I couldn’t help getting the heebie jeebies and thinking that all of his woes could have been solved if he’d just turned his Strava on. But that’s not his fault, it’s just the nature of time.
August 10, 2019
Probably only for the real running freaks & addicts. Phil lost me with 4 chapters left which I skipped to be able to say I'd finished the damn book. The terrible formatting (no linespacing) didn't help his cause there either.
By the end, the book had gotten extremely boring & felt more like a hard slog.
Phils marathon running attitude is all wrong too, constantly harping on about having knocked 8 minutes or 4 minutes off his PB. Yeah, Phil, right. In the real world, that shit simply doesn't happen to runners. If you beat a pb, it's normally by seconds, not minutes, no matter how hard or long you train.
By the end, the book had gotten extremely boring & felt more like a hard slog.
Phils marathon running attitude is all wrong too, constantly harping on about having knocked 8 minutes or 4 minutes off his PB. Yeah, Phil, right. In the real world, that shit simply doesn't happen to runners. If you beat a pb, it's normally by seconds, not minutes, no matter how hard or long you train.
April 9, 2020
A detailed insight into the ‘big dog’ marathons as well as the less known country ones. I think Hewitt goes into too much depth with explaining the course routes. I’d like to read less about the right turn that came up at mile 9, more about the thoughts he undoubtably battles with when he gets to the 15th mile. I’d like it if he went into more depth about how to avoid hitting the wall, how training impacted his daily rituals and how to keep motivated.
All in all, it’s a quick , light heated read with some hilarious one liners that had me laughing out loud.
All in all, it’s a quick , light heated read with some hilarious one liners that had me laughing out loud.
July 22, 2019
I read this book to check off a box on the 2019 PopSugar Reading Challenge (a book about a hobby) and also get some potential tips for my upcoming marathon. Full disclosure: this book would be immensely boring to a non-runner, but I happen to like reading race recaps by amateur runners. I didn't really learn much, except for the fact that I REALLY would like to run the NYC marathon someday (if I can get through Columbus first!)
March 30, 2018
I’ve struggled to finish this book as Phil Hewitt his Amsterdam marathon. New York marathon part was full of inspiration so without the doubt I’ve signed up for it myself. The rest of the book was Phil’s struggle with marathons, motivation, crowd support. Hope he’s now become more appreciative of the ability to run.
January 14, 2024
I strongly agree with some of the views in this book - which made me like it. But I'm much more forgiving to other people's running aims and ambitions - I.e. wouldn't suggest that it's not worth getting out of bed for a 10k - which I found a bit, well, off putting. But overall spoke good descriptions of city marathons's and maybe worth heeding some advice on the ones to avoid,
July 11, 2025
Trouvé dans une boutique de livres de seconde main, je pensais trouver une sorte de guide sur le marathon ainsi qu’une lettre d’amour à cette course. J’y ai trouvé le second, un homme parlant de sa découverte du marathon, de la sensation de courir, et une infime explication de ce qui rend les marathons si particuliers. Je l’ai compris par beaucoup de passages, mais je déconseille aux marcheurs ;)
October 15, 2025
Wenn ein nichtLäufer das Buch liest, wird er wahrscheinlich die Geschichte eines Verrückten lesen, der sich bis zur Kotzgrenze und noch weiter quält, viel Geld dafür ausgibt und seine Familie dazu zwingt, ihn bei seinem Leiden zuzusehen. Wahrscheinlich wird er die meiste Zeit den Kopf schütteln. Läufer werden das Buch genial finden.
June 30, 2019
started off quite well. interesting and how the author pick up running and did his first marathon. after a while i find it gets boring, as each chapter merely talks about how he gets to the race and how he complete/not complete the run.
April 19, 2021
Not a literary breakthrough, but a nice collection of experiences that all runners share. I recommend this book to all who are runners, think of becoming one or are just trying to understand why anyone runs a marathon.
May 23, 2021
Beginning of the book 4⭐️ as I could identify my running experience with the situations and the feelings described by the author. However, closer to the end I started to be bored with the “same” story and I could not keep focus while reading and therefore 3⭐️ at the end.
July 6, 2017
Oh sugar..... it's made me want to run another marathon!!!
September 17, 2017
Nice and entertaining chronicle of the author's marathoning journey. Good holiday read.
February 5, 2018
Actual rating 4.5 stars.
December 13, 2018
Interesting.
Slightly repetitive but decent insight into why runners run
Slightly repetitive but decent insight into why runners run
April 12, 2019
Sucks all the enjoyment out of running
December 14, 2021
An easy read for any marathon runner, although slightly repetitive towards the end. Ultimately there are only so many ways a marathon can go
June 27, 2022
I’m VERY into running and this still was a tad boring. Plus some of the jokes don’t land, plus the author seems quite entitled which doesn’t help
February 10, 2023
So inspiring. This makes me want to run a marathon, which I am so far away from being able to at this point.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews