The Running Pilgrim

From the acclaimed author of Running with the Kenyans and The Rise of the Ultra Runners, an astonishing, moving meditation on running, mindfulness and belonging.


'I've seldom read a better account of the exhilaration of running . . . Finn is unusually engrossing company'
EVENING STANDARD (on Running with the Kenyans)


Aged 50 and finding himself at a crossroads, Adharanand Finn couldn't help but ask himself: what was he doing all this running for? He was pushing himself further and further, tracking his metrics more and more obsessively, but perhaps he needed to consider a different approach. Maybe another 'race' wasn't what he needed, but something more intentional, in search of meaning, understanding and adventure.


In The Running Pilgrim, Adharanand travels to Ireland, setting out to run 1,400 miles around its perimeter, hoping to reconnect with the birthplace of his parents and the country where he spent summers in his youth. Journeying from Dublin, Cork and Tralee to Galway, Sligo and Malin Head, discovering rugged national parks, windswept beaches, historic spiritual landmarks and countryside and suburbia, he encounters people and landscapes which upend his understanding of Ireland - and himself.


An inspiring story of self-discovery and physical endurance, The Running Pilgrim is a paean to the transformative power of running; to the pain of the times where you feel as though you can't take another step, and the exhilaration of those rare moments when you believe you could run to the horizon, and over and beyond it.