Book Review: Running on Air

I wonder if Sophie Raworth was watching Frances McDormand win her Oscar for sitting on the toilet in Nomadland when she was writing Running on Air. As a busy working mum delivering news to the nation and running countless miles, it can be difficult to find time to sit down to write.

Her book begins with the life-saving suppository she received after she collapsed at her first London Marathon. A surprising exclusive for Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs as he turned over at the wrong time while recovering in the medical tent. They can laugh about it now and this memoir enhances her reputation and the parasocial connection the public has with her.

You are not part of her life, but you like the person on the page. Sophie is not writing a sanitised, shiny version of the running experience. It is about pain, tears, fears, the emptying of bowels and bladders, along with the highs, camaraderie and resilience to keep your head up when the world wants to break you.

When running the Marathon des Sables in the Moroccan Sahara, the toilet was “a green plastic four-legged stool with the middle cut out” and the “tarpaulin wall” offers limited privacy for ears, nose or mind. Sophie says her one obsession is not using the toilet cubicle the same time as anyone she knows because it is far too intimate.

I would not be surprised if Sophie told her tent mates she was going to do a “Kaplinsky” when she needed a number two, such is her resentment towards her rival who replaced her as the main presenter for BBC Six O’Clock News when Sophie was on maternity leave. Now that Natasha Kaplinsky is the President of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) she can decide how graphic the biopic of Sophie’s running adventures can be.

When looking at reviews and online noise about this book I saw comments about how her privileged position gives her the means to run the Marathon Majors, Marathon des Sables and other international races while balancing her family life and career. There is a nanny, a supportive husband and her being a BBC headliner that I expect make her life easier. However, she still works for a living, runs those miles, writes those words and competes against people who want her job.

It would be good to know how Sophie rose to the top in BBC instead of settling for a journalist or editor role. Has running helped her make connections and elevate her career? Maybe, maybe not. Sophie is aware that her work colleagues may grow tired of her passion for running especially when interviewing the former prime minister David Cameron.

Sophie received this career advice when she was shuffled sideways: “The thing about jobs on TV is that sometimes your face just won’t fit and there’ll be absolutely nothing you can do about it. So go back to work, smile, keep your head down, do a good job. Focus on the long game.” You can apply those wise words to running as well, even when you want to meet rudeness with rage.

“I am flying through Canary Wharf, past screaming crowds. The noise is intense, deafening, almost too much… Someone starts shouting behind me. I don’t hear what he says. Too much noise. Too tired now to make sense of what’s being said. Suddenly a sharp shove in my ribs as a man elbows me aside. ‘Hey, don’t push me!’ I shout furiously, amazed that I can still string a sentence together. ‘Get out of the way,’ yells an American voice. ‘Blind runner coming through – why the hell don’t you move?’ I am stunned by his aggression. ‘I didn’t hear you,’ I shout back, furiously.”

Even when Sophie loses her temper, it feels professional. While the running community is inclusive there are plenty of wankers too. Being a guide for a blind runner does not make you less of a wanker. While on that topic it is unfortunate she only talks about how Huw Edwards being sick meant she worked all the time during the pandemic. This was her opportunity to speak truth to power and hold her disgraced colleague accountable for his actions.

When Sophie was a teenager she belonged to the same diving club as Jason Statham. Maybe they can reunite in a middle-aged action thriller where the geezer and the posh journalist run, dive, swim and ride to save the day. The book emphasises she wants to be seen as a normal person, not just the woman on the telly. Running is a way of doing that and gives the impression that her job allows her to make the world a better place and help other people tell their stories.

Sophie’s dog died, her dad had depression and died of dementia, her mum is a disabled wheelchair user and her career does not always go to plan. That is life, her life. “Running has given me a whole new identity. It is what I do. It is who I have become, as much a part of me now as my family, my friends, my job. It is my core. It makes me feel solid, young, grounded inside. One foot in front of the other, mile after mile, confidence soaring. I can. I can. I can.”

The final chapter Circle of Life starts with Sophie sitting on the toilet looking at a painting which inspires another running adventure. I have not run for six months because of chronic plantar fasciitis. I am determined to rejoin the running community. Maybe Sophie knows someone who wants to read my anthology of running stories.

Inspiration

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