How running makes us human

Barefoot runner and University of Kent lecturer Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid makes a compelling case in a new book for how running can make people's lives better.

Entitled Footnotes: How running makes us human (Ebury Press, May 2016), Dr Cregan-Reid's book explores the simple human desire to run.

Using insights from literature, philosophy, neuroscience and biology, he explores how running has had many different connotations over the years, including exercise, health, marathons and monotony.

He also highlights the importance of people getting off the beaten track, switching off, and opening up their curiosities in a world determined to keep us 'plugged in and switched on'.

With running in his blood - his uncle won a European Championship marathon gold medal for Ireland - Dr Cregan-Reid puts into practice the idea that running is not just a sport but rather a way to reconnect people with their bodies and the environment.

Using examples drawn from his own life - including his predilection for barefoot running - Dr Cregan-Reid considers and answers the questions: what of running for the sake of it? Can idle running - not work, nor exercise - but the simple movement of foot to ground in nature, reconnect people with their true selves in a deep and meaningful way?

Dr Cregan-Reid is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature within Kent's School of English.

Provided by University of Kent