In this thoughtful essay Adharanand Finn provides a subtle answer to a simple question: why do we run? After all, he says, "running is hard. It requires effort. And after all the pain you usually end up right back where you started, having run in a big, pointless circle".

With reference to childhood, hunter-gatherers and even the monks of mount Hiei, who run the equivalent of 1,000 marathons in 1,000 days, Adharanand arrives at an answer: running brings us joy. Recorded at the End of the Road music festival.

Producer: Richard Knight.