gestalten Laufwunder - Marathons, Ultraläufe und die Lust daran

About the book Laufwunder

• Format: 21 x 26cm
• Features: full color, hardcover, thread bound, 256 pages
• Language: German

Lace up your running shoes and just run away from it all: We are currently experiencing a true running boom. On streets and in parks, everywhere we try to run away from everyday life at least a little bit. Out on our own four walls, away from screens and algorithms - running can be a way to find yourself. Many experience daily jogging as liberating, especially in these times. During the pandemic, more and more people have discovered running for themselves. The beauty of it is that it doesn't take more than a pair of running shoes and the courage to take the first step.

Running is first and foremost a competition with oneself. We struggle against our own limits and doubts, but this testing of one's limits and outgrowing oneself can also give self-confidence - the kind of self-confidence that goes beyond sport.

The book Laufwunder (Running Miracles), published by Verlag gestalten, introduces people who are redefining the boundary between the possible and the impossible, step by step.

Like American Justin Gallegos, who now runs 80 kilometres a week despite his cerebral palsy, which makes even walking a challenge. "I don't believe in limits," he says. "I want to be remembered as someone who showed people that the seemingly impossible is possible." Or Mimi Anderson, who didn't get into running until she was 36 and couldn't last a minute on the treadmill back then. Today, at 58, the Brit holds three world records for extreme distances. Ask her why she runs, and she says, "Because I can."

Running is a solo sport, and yet urban running collectives have found ways to give running a meaning that transcends individuals and makes running itself a political act. "We are a counterculture because we allow other body types, other lifestyles to participate in traditional running cultures," says Júnior Negão. "For us, running is not a competition, but a means of cultural representation." The Ghetto Run Crew, founded by him and his wife Gisele Nascimento, reclaims the streets of Rio de Janeiro's favelas at night. Running has become a means of social empowerment for the two in the process. The founders of the Berlin Wayv Run collective Thị Minh Huyền Nguyễn and Daniel Medina have also made it their goal to get people of colour, women and LGBTQI* moving. They themselves actively advocate for them, for their bodies, to be visible on the streets and in the running scene. "In running, it's a very political thing" says Medina. "Not everyone has the energy to be visible," but for many members, running gives them strength. "On race day you are on your own, but the collective victory is so much stronger than the individual victory."

Although it may seem at the moment that we are alone in our thoughts, running is much more than a health trend: even now, with at least two metres between us, there is an unspoken sense of solidarity among joggers. For now, we'll continue to nod lightly at each other, but this book is an inspiration to keep running - all the way to the finish line of the really big races or the next local half marathon.

From the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc and the infamous Badwater 135 through California's Death Valley to the Athens Authentic Marathon, which follows the original 42.2km route between Marathon and Athens, considered the birthplace of running, or the Great Wall Marathon in China, considered one of the toughest in the world as runners have to climb more than 5.000 steps - Running Miracle introduces 25 marathons and trail runs around the world, encourages to set new goals and motivates passionate runners and those who want to become one.

About the co-editor

Nick Butter is a British long-distance runner, adventurer and motivational coach. In 2019, he became the first person to run a marathon in every country in the world. It took him just 23 months to do it.