Running Through Sand
An Ageing Comedian’s Ill-Thought-Out Ultra in the Sahara
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 30 days of Standard free
£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Running Through Sand
Narrated by:
Paul Tonkinson
Buy Now for £14.46
-
Narrated by:
-
Paul Tonkinson
-
By:
-
Paul Tonkinson
*This audiobook features a bonus conversation between the author and fellow ultra-runner and comedian Rob Deering*
'I loved every page' TIM VINE
'Hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking' TOBY JONES
'Moving, inspiring and laugh-out-loud funny' LISA JACKSON
250KM IN THE SAHARA DESERT. 2 MONTHS TRAINING. CAN AGEING RUNNER AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR PAUL TONKINSON CONQUER THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST FOOT RACE?
Ageing as a runner is no joke. Paul Tonkinson discovers that in running, as in life, you are gradually overtaken by a stream of young people wearing clothes you couldn’t get in to and in shoes you don’t recognise. He observes that your relationship with running changes – you no longer run as fast as you can, you run as fast as your body can handle, which is slow. So, embrace it.
Why not the toughest footrace on earth? The Marathon Des Sables, a week long, 250km self-sufficient sweat fest across the Sahara Desert. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out… lots. While training for the event, calves explode, tendons pop, knees disintegrate. Years come and go, time seems to be running out as the race seems an impossible dream and then, in 2024 when fitness is finally achieved, a freak accident. Paul is run over by dogs, hospitalised, all hope is lost…
Spring 2025, the planets align. Tonkinson snags entry to MDS, two months till race time. It’s on – the last hurrah. Get the gear down from the attic, apply the toe jelly and find that mandatory whistle.
With such little time to train, he can’t compete any more that’s for sure. So the question is more basic: can he possibly finish?©2026 Paul Tonkinson (P)2026 ID Audio
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Critic reviews
Not really a book about running the Marathon des Sables. It's a reckoning. Never has an "existential rinse" been more entertaining, hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking
A book full of passion, humour and unexpected spiritual depth. I loved every page
Moving, inspiring and laugh-out-loud funny, this triumph of a book is a celebration of human endurance, camaraderie and what it means to feel truly, if achingly, alive
Paul's the perfect combo: he's got the gumption to take on the ultimate challenge, and the witty, self-deprecating comic voice to tell the story
Beautifully honest. I have experienced the Marathon des Sables from the comfort of my armchair – I hope I never get bored or daft enough to try it myself!
Paul takes us on a wonderful journey. Age is just a number!
I worry I'm a little biased coming from Yorkshire but it's so funny to hear that temperament against such a incomprehensible backdrop like Marathon de Sables, especially for those of us at home just doing the dishwasher.
Paul Tookinson has such a gift for creating characters and describing situations out of even the quickest encounters that it honestly feels like your jogging behind him the entire time and somehow now crying because you're worried some bloke who you didn't know existed 6 hours earlier is struggling to finish the day. As for the laughter, just listen to it, there's plenty.
Once again, I find myself listening to one of his books and reaching for dusty running shoes, because even when it sounds absolutely horrific he always makes running seem like such a blooming brilliant idea.
Brilliant Follow On
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.