Running long distances: Philosophy and practice of the ultramarathon

Every hypothetical scientific treatise on very long distancerunning should abandon all pretense of explaining this sportspractice through numbers, timetables and charts. This is what isadvanced in this essay by Nicola Placcucci: an original holisticwiev of performances and goal achievements.

Medical Doctor with a keen interest in philosophy, thanks to hisextensive experience as ultrarunner, through these pages he conveys an unusual personal vision on what very long distancerunning requires and gives back to those who seriously devote themselves to that sports discipline.

Far from the scientifc rigour claimed by some modern experts, Placucci's original approach to ultramarathon, comes the closestto the state of our ancestors, running long distances in search of food, freedom and safety. Maybe the man of today similarly needsto ridiscover himself and his primal animal instinct of self preservation far from the limits imposed by society? This pleasantreading on very long distance runing aims at nothing more thansharing experiences and suggestions on how to get in full contactwith yourself and with nature escaping from a technologicalmodernity defined by numbers, appointed times and conventionalroles.