To the Limit: The Meaning of Endurance from Mexico to the Himalayas

(Hardback, Unabridged edition)

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The author of Out of Thin Air, winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022, journeys through different cultures to find out the meaning of endurance. In a world where we are having to work harder than ever before, where talk of burnout is everywhere and where pressures increase in many areas of our lives, some of us are turning to endurance sport and extreme challenges. Pushing human limits has even become enmeshed with pushing technological limits, a cultural obsession fed by a multibillion-dollar technology industry led by the likes of Fitbit and Apple. To the Limit asks why this might be and what kind of meaning we attach to our ability to endure. Michael Crawley immerses himself in various endurance cultures and asks what makes enduring together meaningful to people. He learns how Nepalese runners face different challenges depending on their location up a mountain, from those in the lowlands and middle hills to Sherpas from the Solu Khumbu, and observes Tarahumara ultrarunners ability to cover extreme distances on highly technical terrain. But he also delves into the history of Dance Marathons, six-day pedestrianism races in Madison Square Gardens and the unique Enhanced Games. To the Limit explains why enduring with others can help fostering social connections and bringing people together, and argues that endurance might change the way we think about the natural world and our place in it.

Author Bio

Michael Crawley is an anthropologist, writer and runner based in Durham. He has run a 2.20 marathon and represented Great Britain in road running. In 2019, Michael was awarded a PhD in anthropology by the University of Edinburgh, following fifteen months of research living and running alongside runners in Ethiopia. His book Out of Thin Air: Running Magic and Wisdom from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia won the prestigious Margaret Mead Award in 2022.