Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia: Winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022 Paperback – January 18, 2022

This book is now one of my all-time favorites. The author describes his experience living with and training for over a year with a local Ethiopian running club. With a humble perspective and an open mind, he builds relationships with athletes, coaches, and others within the Ethiopian running community to discover the secrets of the culture that makes the country’s athletes so successful on the international stage, providing a much-needed alternate view to the biased explanations that western sports science attempts to provide for their success.The project itself is a beautiful concept, to literally run (countless) miles in someone else’s shoes and seek to understand what’s great about them, on their terms instead of your own. It’s simply, yet eloquently written and really gets at the essence of what makes running so great - not just the dreams of race day glory, but finding fun, adventure, and beauty in the day-to-day grind of gathering and sharpening the tools to make oneself and others better.I read this in the run-up to a half marathon I’ve been training for and this book has me more inspired and in love with running than ever. Big thanks to the author for sharing his story, and to the Ethiopian athletes who befriended him and allowed him to tell their story!

East Africans have dominated distance running to such an extent that stereotypes are inevitable. They’re all lumped together despite significant ethnic, cultural and religious differences that influence their performance. In this insightful account, marathon runner/anthropologist Michael Crawley writes of 15 months that he spent in Ethiopia from 2015-2016, running and writing about his experience. He is a worthy successor to Kenny Moore, a world class marathon runner-writer for Sports Illustrated, who, in the 1970’s, wrote vivid prose about distance running and runners. Crawley trains with the Ethiopians and reports that “ science does not work” for them. As one runner states, “a scientist does not know time, a doctor does not run.” As Mr. Crawley observes, “running with intuition and creativity and knowing when to focus on slowness rather than speed are important skills and are the foundation upon which everything else is built.” Training sites are important to the Ethiopians: forests, long hills, uneven gravel and mud trails, asphalt roads, oxygen-scarce altitudes. The author visits sites throughout Ethiopia to talk to coaches who trained Olympic gold medalists. He reports on a state sponsored club system that pays athletes to train and race. He teases out the training pattern of Ethiopia’s finest distance runners (first forest running, then dirt roads, then asphalt running). He participates in the Ethiopian National Cross Country Championships, accompanies a teammate to the Istanbul Half Marathon. He describes the influence that Abebe Bikila, Ethiopia’s 1960 & 1964 Olympic marathon gold medalist still has on the country and speaks with his 92-year old teammate. This book highlights the difference between the West’s scientific approach to training distance runners and the more intuitive approach of the Ethiopians. Michael Crawley has written a superb book that has significantly increased our understanding of the creation of some of the finest athletes in the world. Distance runners and their coaches will find it illuminating.

This was an interesting and amazing read on Ethiopian Running culture, history and methods. Definitely worth your time and money.

'Out of Thin Air' is about the experience of Michael Crawley, a runner-anthropologist or vice versa - in living and training with Ethiopian elite runners for about 15 months. The author does a very good job on capturing some of main components of the culture of Ethiopian runners. The notion of 'condition', the use of different natural surfaces for running, the variation of altitudes are some of them. But, what is more interesting is the group training mindset, something one may find unusual, since running is seem as a lonely sport. The book is very well written and easy to read. The stories are full of life and insights. If you are a runner - a marathoner in particular - and like to read, this book is perfect for you.

I throughly enjoyed this book. Beautifully told stories and insights of some of the world’s greatest athletes. No matter what your path in life, this book is full of lessons for all of us. An inspiring, engaging, insightful read from start to finish.

The author gives his account of training runners in Ethiopia. He learns a bit of the culture and languages. He meets some wonderful people a,d has a great experience.

This book touched on two of my favorite topics: Ethiopia and running, so perhaps a natural fit for me. That said, the author didn't disappoint. An entertaining story that using running as a window into Ethiopian culture. A highly enjoyable read and I hope to see more from this author.

Very disappointed when the book ended, I was so enjoying reading about the Ethiopian’s training, motivation, spirituanrsd and training techniques. Anthropologist Crawley has a unique perspective in not only living within the running camp community but he is also a 2:20 marathoner which means he could do many of the long endurance workouts unique to Ethiopians. Fascinating is their dedication, early morning group runs, their centipede style group running and zigzagging along hills snd particularly the forests. Their ability to take poor conditions as a strength opportunity is pure dedication and opportunity and burns the kegs of the author. They also know to run slow and recover which we often overlook. Their friendly nature and willingness to live a bare lifestyle mindful of good eating habits produced a variety of great athletes. Sadly not all can be successful and stay with their clubs that provide sponsorship along with shoe company contracts but they all offer sincere appreciation due running and their support to each other.