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Preview
  • Broken

  • 2020: The Year Running Records Were Rewritten
  • By: Ally Beaven
  • Narrated by: James Gibson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

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Broken

By: Ally Beaven
Narrated by: James Gibson
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Summary

"The emotional pain of failing just felt like it was going to be a bit worse than the physical pain of carrying on..."

Attempting to break long-distance running records used to be an underground endeavour, until the virus-stricken summer of 2020 came along. Only a few, such as the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District, had ever broken into mainstream consciousness. But an absence of running races thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented rise in the popularity of attempts at breaking these records.

In Broken, Ally Beaven takes an entertaining look at just why 2020 was so unusual for long-distance running. With his interest in Fastest Known Times (FKTs) piqued, Beaven immerses himself in the scene. His summer becomes one of spending hours in the hills feeding, cajoling, and generally trying to keep safe the runners he is supporting, as well as following the dots of live trackers in the middle of the night and endlessly refreshing his Twitter feed as records tumble around the country.

Through the stories of John Kelly’s epic Grand Round, Beth Pascall’s record-shattering Bob Graham Round, Donnie Campbell’s mind-bending new mark for bagging all 282 Munros, Jo Meek’s new overall record for the Nigel Jenkins Dartmoor Round and many others, Beaven brings us an inside look at the incredible FKT machine.

Broken is the story of the summer of 2020, a historic time for running in the UK.

©2020 Ally Beaven (P)2020 Vertebrate Publishing
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What listeners say about Broken

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of these best running books. A perfect audio.

A great book in audio format, engaging chapters covering all sorts of epic runs from around the UK, Pennine Way, Bob Graham, Cairngorms and Munro runs, stuff on Dartmoor and LEJOG. A great insight into many of the UKs best runners and other interesting characters. Highly recommended.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great listen

Was very intrigued by some of the FKT’s over lockdowns and Ally was great doing the interviews for the online Kendal MFF. He pulls together the running heroes achievements brilliantly with this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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excellent insight into extreme endurance

funny, moving and a bit sweaty, I thought this book was brilliant. it amazes me what humans can achieve with their own two feet.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic for runners of all strypes

Absolutely loved this, makes me want to do an ultramarathon! Even as someone who's more of a shorter distance road runner this is super inspiring and incredibly interesting

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A well-written account of some epic tales of human endurance

Thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish and it accompanied me on some of my own long runs.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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An insight into a hidden world

I loved this! But I'm a runner and have completed some of the routes described.

I did learn one new expression: "Audax Hotel"!

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Good idea but let down by expletives

I’ve read a lot of running books and the concept of the book was great. It was well delivered and filled with a mixture of entertaining anecdotes, wit and inspiration.

Unfortunately it was just let down by the unnecessary and excessive use of expletives throughout the book. The story just seemed to jar on each occasion and it distracted more than adding authenticity. A clean version could have opened up the undoubted inspiration in the narrative to a younger generation to show them what human endeavour is possible.

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