Richard Askwith

“But most fell-runners I know feel – and dislike – the sport’s pains. Those who persist see them as the price that must be paid for the compensatory pleasures. These include the scenery (doesn’t apply on days with zero visibility), the conversation (doesn’t apply on days when you can’t keep up), the joy of being outdoors in the wilderness (doesn’t apply in foul weather), the joy of making full use of your physical powers (doesn’t apply when you’re having an off-day), and the joy – which applies all the more when the other pleasures don’t – of it all being over, and of being able to share your relief with like-minded people.”
― Richard Askwith, Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession

“If you want to enjoy something,’ he said later, ‘run 100 metres.235 If you want to experience something, run a marathon.’ These are the words of a man who knows what it really costs to keep going for 26.2 miles.”
― Richard Askwith, Today We Die a Little: Emil Zátopek, Olympic Legend to Cold War Hero