With off-road running, the ability of knowing where you are going is a fundamental skill. Unfortunately for many runners the secrets of navigation are akin to the secrets of the dark arts of black magic. Specifically with the runner in mind, this book presents in an easy to understand manner all the skills and techniques that are required for the beginner through to the advanced user. 'Navigation for Off-Road Runners' will give you the confidence to go further.

The mountain marathon is possibly the ultimate test of the endurance runner's capabilities. Navigating your way across rugged open country whilst carrying everything required for your survival and still competing against the clock. From the more traditional two-day events of the OMM, Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon and Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon to the newer one-day events of the White and Dark Peak series, these events are gaining in popularity each year as entrants pit themselves against both the physical and mental challenges of these competitions. This is the first full instructional book written for those people seeking to face this challenge, the complexities and procedures that control and govern these events are laid open. Everything from the different types of courses and classes of event and how to enter them, through to the equipment required and on to the necessary training both to compete and improve performance in these gruelling events are included here. Written by two experienced mountain marathon competitors who are rapidly gaining the reputation for producing the most comprehensive instructional books, this book is set to become the bible of all those seeking to compete the mountain marathon.

The Simonside Hills were a special place for our ancestors and for many people still are. Part of a range of sandstone hills that run up the centre of Northumberland between the Cheviots and the sea, these hills present a wide variety of countryside for the walker to explore. Running between Coquetdale and Redesdale, to the east the Hills end in the Simonside Ridge, a famous landmark of crags and rocks. To the west, the landscape gradually changes from moorland to rough farm pasture while in the centre the wooded bulk of Harwood Forest dominates. Here, in this varied landscape, mankind has left many reminders of his presence through the ages. From the Stone Age to the 1940's, there are the remains of habitation and of conflict. Join the author as in a series of nine walks he discovers this special countryside.

The Hambleton Hills lie in the south-west corner of the North York Moors National Park. This is an area that is justifiably known for its varied landscape, a land of flat-topped hills interspersed with wooded and tranquil valleys. To the north, the hills are heather-clad moor inhabited by sheep and grouse, then as they gradually run south-wards, their nature changes to more gently rolling hills clad in woodland and fields of grain. This is a fascinating area, one that has seen mankind take his early steps into agriculture, the introduction of Christianity to this land, and the successful and unsuccessful foreign invader. History has left a pattern on this landscape, one that can be traced as you walk. Join the author in a series of nine walks as he explores both the countryside and history of one of the country's most popular national parks.

The small market town of Helmsley lies on the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park and flowing past the edge of town lies the River Rye. Born high on the slopes of the Cleveland Hills, this river cuts a deep sided valley as it makes it's way through the flat-topped Tabular Hills passing Hawnby, Rievaulx and finally Helmsley before entering the Vale of Pickering. As it heads north-west from Helmsley, a network of footpaths takes you through this valley, along wooded trails and riverside fields to the heather clad moors that line the upper reaches of this quiet, little dale. For the walker, this presents some of the best countryside that Yorkshire has to offer. It's little wonder that the medieval monks chose this valley to site their monasteries and settlements. Here history mixes with the countryside with four thousand years of human habitation lying amongst the trees, in the fields and across the moors. A walk here tells you much more than where your next footstep goes.

The village of Osmotherley lies on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, at the point where the rugged Cleveland Hills meet the more gentle, rolling Hambleton Hills. This is an area with a history that stretches back to the early days of human exploration and settlement. A history that has left it's mark right up to the present time. Here the walker is presented with a mixture of landscapes to explore. The rugged, heather moorland, the rolling grassland of the lower hills, and the forests of conifer and broad-leaved trees that line the edges of the moors. Join the author on a series of walks as he explores both the landscape and the history of this part of one of the country's most popular national parks.