The Mountains Are Calling

Muir was a nine-year-old when the silhouette of a runner in the glow of sunset on the Malvern Hills caught his eye. Jonny later became the mountainside silhouette that first inspired him. His exploits inevitably led to Scotland's supreme test of hill running: Ramsay's Round, a daunting 60-mile circuit of twenty-four mountains, climbing the equivalent height of Everest, to be completed within twenty-four hours. While Ramsay's Round demands extraordinary endurance, the challenge is underpinned by simplicity and tradition, in a sport largely untainted by commercialism. Here is the story of that sport in Scotland, charting its evolution over half a century, heralding its characters and the culture that has grown around them, ultimately capturing the irresistible appeal of running in high places. Lavishly illustrated with maps and two sections of delightful color plates.