Endurance events

Cold, exhausted, sore and hopelessly lost on the side of a Welsh mountain, Graham Little had an unlikely epiphany. Finishing the Peaks Race that he and his friend had naively signed themselves up for wasn't about being the fittest or strongest or best runner. It was, in fact, about being stubborn and pig-headed and refusing to give in, no matter what.

After all, conquering the terrain and beating the elements was incredibly exhilarating. From then on Graham was hooked, competing in some of the world's toughest endurance challenges, including completing an Iron Man, running the famous desert race the Marathon des Sables and swimming the Dardanelles strait. Trying to fit in training around his young family, Graham managed to infuriate his wife and mystify his friends, who couldn't understand why he was passing up an evening in the pub to train in a freezing cold lake.

This is a funny and insightful account of how Graham went from a no-hoper lost in Wales to taking part in the most demanding races on earth. Along the way he meets a variety of people who are just obsessed as he is, and tries to figure out what it is about modern life that makes us want to take on these extreme challenges, no matter how painful, cold, miserable or even dangerous they may be.