Run Wild

Boff Whalley just likes running - the places it takes him, the moments of exhilaration and snapshots of natural beauty that he adds to his mental album. This is not a man who signs up to big city marathons and pounds the pavements. With his down to earth voice and a great sense of humour, Boff writes about how running brings a real world of discovery and adventure, from reaching the top of a mountain with the sun at your back and moon in front creating two shadows to running up Mt Fuji on a break from work. For Boff, running is about freedom, experiencing of the world, your place in it and generally just enjoying yourself. Running is a way to get back to that simplest of relationships - the one between our feet and the earth.

Boff Whalley did two things in 1981. He started a band and did his first marathon. In the following five years the band, Chumbawamba, recorded several albums and toured the world. The running? It took five years until he ran a hill race to make a success of it. And he was hooked. Being in a band is his life and work, but off-road running is his passion.