Downhill from here: running from John O'Groats to Land's End

Approaching his mid-40s, Gavin Boyter wondered what his life was all about.

A Scot living in London, single and with no kids, he was living for the job and the dwindling hope of a career in film.

He had been a club runner all his life, pretty good but not at the front all that often.

He was what he called an ordinary runner and he came to wonder just what an ordinary runner might be capable of.

How about John O'Groats to Land's End, the longest linear run in Britain, and how about making a film of it? And how about writing a book? As usual, Gavin was neither the first nor the quickest but the book is his real triumph, written in such an engaging and witty voice the reader accompanies him every step of the way.