Learning from my mistakes, again

What’s the difference between climbing Mount Everest on your own, and being guided to the top of Everest?

I was excited this week to get a copy of the new book from Alex Hutchinson in the post. He’s the author of Endure, the book that usually tops my ‘Favourite Running Books’ list, even though it’s not strictly a book about running (it’s about endurance in general). When I used to host running and writing retreats with Richard Askwith - another brilliant running author - we would ask the guests to compare the opening pages of Endure with another book (one I didn’t like - I won’t say which), and then ask them to think about which they preferred and why.

Richard and I would then give our takes, and Richard would say that the opening of Endure was so good that it made him feel that he should just put his pen down and give up writing, as he’d never be able to write anything that good.

Now, Richard is a very self-effacing person, but also a great writer, so coming from him, that’s quite the compliment.