Why We Run: Tales of Fell & Trail Running in the Lake District

by Danielle Ledbury

Why do we run?

Why do fell- and trail-runners head into the toughest of landscapes on journeys of adventure, endurance, technical challenge and self-discovery?

In this visual celebration of two iconic mountain sports, photographer Danielle Ledbury talks with 28 athletes, from trailblazers like Joss Naylor and Steve Birkinshaw to those taking their first strides into the Cumbrian hills.

Their answers – often surprising, sometimes challenging, always candid – cover community, love, addiction, bereavement, passion, solitude, trauma, joy... and an abiding love of the Lake District.

180 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2023

Reviews

[Gareth Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book. Very well curated stories and accounts of fell running in Lakeland from everyday Cumbria-bound runners to legends of the sport. Magnificent photography that really captures both the beauty of the Lake District and the freedom of fell running. Inspiring stuff. I'll certainly re-read this in the months I can't get up to the Lakes to be amongst the fells myself.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A much appreciated birthday gift from my son but this is a nonsense of a book really. It's just total fluff, the sort of stuff that wouldn't make most magazine articles. Each runner is asked about the Fells and their story but there's nothing to it really other than a very surface level, 'I like running and I like the Lake District' vibe.