Academic Spotlight: Dr Michael Crawley

In our first 'Academic Spotlight' we interview Dr Mike Crawley about the release of his second book "To the limit: The Meaning of Endurance from Mexico to the Himalayas'.

'Academic Spotlight' is a series on our social media channels and website which aims to highlight the achievements of our academic staff by asking them questions about their work.

What was the inspiration behind your book?

The idea for this book came out of the research I did for my first book, 'Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia,' which is about the lives of marathon runners in Ethiopia. I was struck by a number of things during that research - that in spite of being some of the very best athletes in the world, 'high performance' could co-exist with a fun and creative approach to training, that success was seen as something that was collectively produced, as opposed to individual, and that energy was seen as something that shared between people. This made me wonder about some of the other cultures that we associate with endurance, such as the Rarámuri in Mexico and climbing Sherpas in Nepal. 'To the Limit' attempts to trace some of the varied meanings people give to endurance activities around the world. 

What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

Approaching this book as an ethnographer meant doing 'participant observation' at things like ultra-marathons and overnight bike rides. It was important to me to immerse myself into the world of endurance sport, and to be able to talk to people about why they find these kinds of activities meaningful whilst running together, sometimes after eight or nine hours. An example of this would be the Lakes in a Day ultra marathon, which involves running from the very top of the Lake District at Cartmel to the very bottom at Caldbeck. After about 60km of running the route followed the lakeside path at Windermere, which was submerged in two feet of very cold water. That was definitely a moment when I questioned my decision to write the book! 

What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing your book?

I went to Mexico in 2022 to spend time with Rarámuri runners, who run races called rarájipari which consist of two teams of runners 'throwing' a ball with a stick around laps of around 5km. These races can last up to 180km, and are important ways of bringing communities together. They are also a form of prayer, and the longer the races go on the more effective they are believed to be in leading to rainfall. One thing I didn't realise until I went to Mexico was that this kind of running is actually understood to be very similar to the dancing that happens at festivals, and which was often seen as more of an endurance challenge than running. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

My advice for people aspiring to write their first non-fiction book would be to write about something that you care deeply enough about to spend the amount of time and effort it takes. It's also really important that you have a strong sense of your audience. As an Assistant Professor I write academic journal articles as well as books like 'To the Limit' and these are written in very different styles. It's important to find a voice that works for you, ideally one that you enjoy writing in and that other people find engaging. 

'To the Limit: The Meaning of Endurance from Mexico to the Himalayas' can be purchased by following this link.