Boff Whalley is an author and musician (you may remember his old band Chumbawamba and their global hit "Tubthumping"),who put "Fell Runner" as occupation on his daughter's birth certificate. Gary Devine is his mate from the Leeds punk scene of the 1980s, who is a former British champion fell runner. "Faster! Louder!" is Boff's new book, all about Gary, and fell running, and punk rock. It is a damn good book, because Boff is a damn good author.

Beaming in from the Yorkshire Dales (Boff) and the Swiss Alps (where Gary now lives) to the base of the Catskill Mountains (where host Tony Fletcher resides), they answer the question on every non fell-runner's lips:

• What is Fell Running?

They also answer the question:

• Why Is It Punk Rock?

And over the course of a fun-filled conversation, they also discuss

• Why fell running does not follow designated trails.
• Why the shortest way to the bottom of a hill is not always the quickest.
• Why the shortest way to the top of a hill is not always the quickest.
• Why the best way to get to the pub early is to finish the race early.
• Why Brits join running clubs and whether that is truly punk.
• Whether to sniff glue or not sniff glue.
• Whether Gary Devine is a force of nature, was genetically predestined to be a champion, trained as hard as he partied, or whether it was a combination of all three that made him national champion.
• Why everyone should listen to the One Step Beyond episode with Damian Hall.
• The importance of women runners in fell running.
• The importance of protecting the environment.
• And the importance of getting out in nature so as to relate to that environment.

Throughout, Tony resists asking Boff what a fell runner should do if he gets knocked down.

"Faster! Louder! How a punk rocker from Yorkshire became British Champion Fell Runner" is available through Great Northern Books.

Boff Whalley can be found at https://www.facebook.com/boff.whalley if you ask nicely

Gary Devine can be found running up the French Alps, if you can catch him.

Tony Fletcher will be found running again, if he recovers from his fractured knee. His website is tonyfletcher.net

Follow One Step Beyond:

Instagram is OneStepBeyondPodcast

Facebook is One Step Beyond with Tony Fletcher

Tony's other podcast, the [Jamming!] Fanzine Podcast is available via https://wavve.link/JammingPodcast/episodes

Theme song is 'Yes Men' by the Dear Boys. https://linktr.ee/thedearboys

Logo by Mark Lerner. Photo taken at Arte Sumapaz in Cundinimarca, Colombia.

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