I’ve got THREE in-person events coming up over the next few weeks, and they’re all exciting in their own special way.
1. Chamonix, cheese, creativity
The newest one is a wine and cheese reception in Chamonix with rabbit. I’ll be giving a presentation on the links between running and creativity, and you can get a copy of my book to spill some wine and/or cheese on.
Do sign up for that if you’re going to be in the mountains on Thursday 27th August.
I spoke to rabbit co-founder Monica DeVreese about their Clubhouse enterprise at the start of this year, so I’m really honored to be a part of their Chamonix programming.
2. Community in London
The next one is my celebration of London’s running community, where we’ll come together in Runlimited - Borough Yards next week to have a healthy discussion about what community actually is.
If you’re in London on Wednesday 19th August, come join us. It’s 90% full, so sign up soon. I promise it’ll be worthwhile.
When I posted this event on Instagram, a couple of people asked whether it would be livestreamed. ‘No,’ is the simple answer, but I will do a recap on here like I normally do. Yes, they aren’t even signed up to the newsletter and they’re asking me to livestream events for them – classic Instagram people.
About reading
Yes, I’m preaching to the choir here, but this week I’ve noticed a few people talking about the state of reading in 2026.
Australian tech commentator Joan Westenberg writes about a more performative version of reading, as popularized by TikTok, but owning books as a signal for who you are is an age-old issue. Decorating your bookshelves as a way of appearing interested in certain topics is smart and ok, in my opinion. As long as you can back it up in conversation. (This is important.)
I’m a subscriber to Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study. She’s my favorite cultural commentator of this era. Every elder millennial topic she dedicates time to hits perfectly, and here she is writing about how They don’t want us to read.
For me, the friction that Anne writes about is key to it. Since Google Reader/RSS was dismantled in 2013, everything became more difficult in a similar way. I never replaced it until Substack came along. For me, the variety of platforms available to us is the biggest friction. When Anne moved from Substack to Patreon, I started reading her newsletter less. I have emails turned off and primarily read via the Substack website on my laptop because I’m trying to use my phone less. Honest.
I don’t listen to anything while running, but I do listen to the Culture Study podcast when I’m on a walk. Yes, I have very specific times and places to consume each medium. For instance, when I’m lying around on the sofa, It’s so easy to watch 10, 100 Reels. I love the ones about dogs and pygmy hippos, about comedic skateboarding fails and people falling into bodies of water. I can watch them all day with occasional flicks of a finger on my phone.
Reading – actually reading – takes a little more effort, but it’s the kind of effort that leads to you being able to take a position on a topic. It leads to you being able to talk about it. What conversation could come from watching a man holding a fishing rod fall off a dock? Not much of true value.
My book opens by saying that running is a radical act, but that same introduction ends by explaining that reading is just as radical an act (spoiler alert, sorry). This is Running is as much a love letter to running as it is to reading. I believe deeply in both things.
Over the weekend, I was catching up with an old family friend who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years. I’ve always looked up to him, a deeply intelligent, well-read man who uses a private AI in his cybersecurity work. He asked me if I saw a place for AI in my work writing books. We both knew there wasn’t, but it devolved into a fun conversation about the innate humanity of reading and writing.
Many of us loathe the existence of generative AI and their overlords, but I believe we’ll do a lot more for the world by celebrating running and reading – two of the most human practices out there – than we will railing against multi-billion dollar corporations. Just like it takes a mile to feel the glory of a run, it really doesn’t take much to feel the effects of reading a book. It takes even less to see the fruits of your support and encouragement in the world around you. Small actions compound.
If you’d like to work with me on a project, please email me at raz@runningsucks101.com
3. Run Culture: LIVE
Thanks so much to Simon Freeman, founder of Like the Wind Magazine for this photo of This is Running on the main display at Selfridges.
For those of you who don’t know what Selfridges is, it’s been named the world’s best department store four times, and is the kind of place that Kim Kardashian has paid a lot of money to close early so she could shop alone. Maybe she’d enjoy reading about Tracksmith and Bridgerunners.
The final event of my summer is Run Culture: LIVE in East London on Friday 4th September, where I’ll be in conversation with Simon, Adharanand Finn, and Howie Goldklang about publishing books about running. We’ve all done it from different angles, so it’ll be a lot of fun. If you’re into that kind of thing.
Get your copy of, This is Running
While it might be the only running book in Selfridges, you can get it from other bookshops including Bookshop and Amazon, and if you’ve gotten around to reading This is Running, a review would be so helpful.
USA - Bookshop.org US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy (US)
UK - Bookshop.org UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones
Review This is Running - Goodreads
G is for Gratitude
There are few people as grateful as a runner who is able to run again.
I’ve written plenty of times about my recovery from the achilles injury that plagued the largest swath of 2025, but it feels different again now that I’ve managed to ramp up my weekly distance without soft tissue repercussions.
I come back to an interaction I had on a solo weekend run. I was traveling past the many kebab shops near my house, just a couple of miles in when I stopped at a traffic light. It was early in the morning, but the elderly lady, also waiting in silence for the green light, shuffled over and told me I should be proud of myself.
Despite pride being one of the seven deadly since, it’s right. I know many lean into the Catholic guilt of calling running a privilege, which implies that the action is unearned. I prefer the Buddhist concept of working through difficulties, practicing patience and mental endurance, thus building resilience. For me, this fits more neatly into the training that runners undergo.
While genetics play a part, and the shoes might add a couple percent in the right situation, it’s the hundreds of hours of training that you’ve invested that makes you the kind of runner you are.
That lady at the red light was right. I got up in time to leave my house at 7am on a Saturday morning to go for a run. If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, it’s akin to that moment of gratitude that the instructor tells you to ruminate upon.
Anyone who’s got this far in today’s newsletter has much to be thankful for. We’re all leading lives where we have chosen to pause and read for 10 minutes. If we’re reading, that’s likely the only thing that we’re doing. It’s a choice. We’re leading lives where we’ve chosen to run, and we’re also thinking deeply about our running practice. We’re thinking about how running is a powerful force for good in our day-to-day existence. It’s a multi-faceted triumph of humanity.
So, the next time you cross a finish line, whether that’s at a race or your front door after a quick couple of miles before work, take a moment to appreciate that you showed up for yourself. You did the work, and you got yourself there, and that’s worth acknowledging.
Thanks for reading,
Raz xx
ME - Instagram | Strava | email: raz@runningsucks101.com
Counting down the days till Chamonix!
You won’t believe this, but I read this sitting in Waterstones cafe. Guess which book was on the shelf right next to me….?