OUT OF THIN AIR, running wisdom and magic from above the clouds in Ethiopia

262pp., b/w & colour illus., map, paperback, Reprint, London, (2020) 2021

Between 2015 and 2016 Michael Crawley spent fifteen months in Ethiopia training alongside runners at all levels of the sport.

"... full of wonderful insights and lessons from a world where the ability to run is viewed as something almost mysterious and magical. With his understated writing style, Crawley gently pulls back the layers of one of the world's most extraordinary and unexplored sporting cultures, and reveals a powerful simplicity at its core. This is an honest portrait of Ethiopian running that doesn't shy away from the difficulties of the life there, or the hardships and insurmountable obstacles most of the runners face in their quest to find success, and the book can leave you feeling a little sad, as well as inspired. But more than anything, after reading it you will look at the great runners of Ethiopia a little differently the next time you see them streaking away majestically in the front of a major race." Adharanand Finn, author of Running with the Kenyans

"Through reading this book you will come to understand that the heart and soul of running are to be found in Ethiopia. I welcome everyone to experience the Ethiopian love of running, and to come and have the same life altering experience that Michael had. Running is life!" Haile Gebrselassie, Gold medal winner and world champion

In 2019 Michael Crawley was awarded a PhD in anthropology by the University of Edinburgh, following his research living and training alongside these runners in Ethiopia. In 2018 he won a Handa Foundation fellowship to run a project to help struggling Ethiopian runners retrain in other running-related professions. He lives in Edinburgh.