DOUBLE SIGNED by JOSS NAYLOR & KEITH RICHARDSON. Joss: The life and times of the legendary Lake District fell runner and shepherd Joss Naylor.

Colour photography by Val Corbett.

Olympic gold medal winner and London Marathon man Chris Brasher described Joss Naylor as 'The Greatest of Them All', a title he bestowed on Joss when he ran 72 Lake District mountains inside 24 hours.

'Joss' he wrote, 'has sinews stronger than any man-made substance and his will is harder than a diamond. I have always believed that he is the toughest runner in Britain, which inevitably makes him the toughest runner in the world, for there is no other nation with such depth of talent on those events which really pull the stamina from a man's heart.'

Joss Naylor's pedigree as a fell runner is undeniable but there is much more to the man. In addition to his considerable exploits in the world of running, this biography brings to the fore other areas of Joss's remarkable story...including his hard childhood and upbringing on a Lakeland hill farm in the wilds of the Wasdale Valley; the crippling back injury he suffered as a boy, an injury that has plagued him all his life and has given him an incredible pain threshold.

Here also is Joss the shepherd, the family man who loves his environment with a passion and who holds strong opinions on the Lake District in the 21st Century.

The book takes you into Joss's world and it is a fascinating place to be. Chapters are devoted to Joss and his working dogs, to the time he spends in Spain and to the tradition of dry stonewalling which he has transformed into an art form.

As well as containing evocative black and white images from Joss's childhood and his early days as a runner, the book also has spectacular colour photography of Joss and the Lakeland mountains by Val Corbett.

This wide ranging book is more than a biography of Joss Naylor the runner, the hill shepherd and the man; it is also a social history and, in many respects, a tribute to Lakeland, its people and that band of hardy souls who are proud to call themselves fell runners.

Keith Richardson.

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