Outrunning the Demons

Phil Hewitt is, regrettably, well qualified to write this book, as he was viciously mugged in 2016 and effectively left for dead. Suffering the acute symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Phil found that dedicating himself to running was the only route ahead. Phil is the author of ten books including Keep On Running: The Highs and Lows of a Marathon Addict, and In The Running: Tales of Extraordinary Runners from Around the World. @marathon_addict

Foreword by Dean Karnazes

The Start Line: ‘And then I did what I have always done. I ran.’
Charlie Engle: ‘When I run, I become the absolute epitome of who I am.’
Theresa Giammona: ‘I know he was with me every step of the way.’
Isabel Hardman: ‘I learn so much about how to cope with life when I go on a long run.’
Jessica Rigo: ‘When I need that extra push to finish strong, I think of my fallen running partner . . . my chosen sister.’
Eleanor Keohane: ‘I was an absolute mess. . . But I did it. I ran. Three times, sobbing my heart out.’
The Schneider Twins: ‘I truly believe that running has saved my family.’
Sandra Laflamme: ‘They said there was blood everywhere.’
Dan Keeley: ‘You’d be hard-pressed to find a happier, more grateful person than I am right now.’
Caroline Elliott: ‘Knowing that I ’ m always recovering, one small step at a time.’
Sujan Sharma: ‘I am so glad now that I had that hallucination.’
Linda Quirk: ‘A disease so insidious that it captures the best in everyone.’
James Buzzell: ‘Once you have seen dead people, you realise that death is real and that it is going to happen.’
Anji Andrews: ‘I remember seeing a solitary robin . . . and thinking it was a sign my dad was watching.’
Emma Malcolm: ‘[Running] clears my mind and enables me to think about all the tough stuff.’
Lisa Hallett: ‘I ran two of the ugliest miles ever, and it was the first time I accepted that John was not coming home.’
Serena Wooldridge: ‘Through running there was light and hope at the end of the tunnel.’
Bryn Phillips: ‘I remember thinking we are not going to survive.’
Hanny Allston: ‘I have found a way to run for the absolute joy in the freedom it brings me.’
Kate Jayden: ‘How could I let anyone steal running from me?’
Don Wright: ‘I am exceedingly lucky to be here.’
Daniele Seiss: ‘Running long distances . . . creates a sense of oneness that I can’t explain.’
Carolyn Knights: ‘[He spent] his whole life wrapped in the loving arms of his mum and dad.’
Alastair Campbell: ‘I see [running] as my best meeting of the day.’
Liz Dunning: ‘I have got children. I am not going to concede their future to a world of guns.’
Danny Slay: ‘It gave me an outlet to think, focus and unwind.’
Ana Febres-Cordero: ‘I am amazing, I am strong, I am beautiful, I am kind.'
Lisa Taylor: ‘Not only am I still here, I now have a lovely baby with my lovely husband.’
Jason Nelson: ‘I put the barrel of my pistol in my mouth with my finger firmly on the trigger.’
Amanda Trafford: ‘I wish I could scoop them all up and inspire them to run!’
Cherissa Jackson: ‘Purging me from my grief and my sadness, my anger and my pain.’
Lynn Julian Crisci: ‘In my mind, you win when you reach the start line, not the finish line.’
Paul Shepherd: ‘My son would have become another fatherless child.’
Bryn Hughes: ‘I was thinking if I allow myself to die, then evil will win.’
Stephanie Foley: ‘Then we did as Sarah did – we ran with all our Hart!’
The Finish Line: ‘A group of people I have come to admire hugely.’
Postscript: ‘ Better Things ’

Appendix: The Science Behind the Transformative Power of Running
Acknowledgements
References
About the Author