Ready, Set, Life: A Story Of Redemption And The Lessons Learned

Synopsis

Let’s face it, Sebastian was right: ‘Dee human world, eet’s a mess.’ And Disney’s Jamaican crab and his ‘hot crustacean band’ were crooning long before we were plagued by issues like a mental health pandemic, global obesity and children identifying as cats. Add wars and the climate crisis to the equations and it’s a wonder we don’t retreat into our shells and never come out again.

But, with the right mindset, we don’t need to. We can build resilience to all the negativity that’s going on around us, channel our inner warrior, unlock infinite potential and achieve a load of other fluffy bollocks that hopefully hasn’t completely put you off reading this book – if the depressing first paragraph didn’t already.

In ‘READY, SET, LIFE’ former SAS: Who Dares Wins recruit, James Gwinnett, explores how.

The book might be cynical about the world around us, and it might rant a bit, but it is also honest and inspiring as James opens up about his journey from a broken neck sustained playing rugby, and subsequent depression and alcoholism, to redemption and taking on a series of extreme endurance challenges. Along the way he featured on season 4 of the acclaimed Channel 4 show, SAS: Who Dares Wins.

Throughout the book he also speaks to a fascinating roster of interviewees to get their take on a staggering variety of topics. From Stoicism to anthropology, identity to mental fitness, and a myriad of other weird and wonderful subjects, experts as broad as a Classics teacher, a former special forces soldier, a psychological therapist, a former heroin addict, a record breaking polar explorer and a former England rugby captain share their insights into how to not just survive, but thrive, on the rollercoaster of life.

Praise for READY, SET, LIFE

'Spot on ... and well written!'

- Ollie Ollerton

'I am lost for words and will enjoy reading this a few more times ... this, I think, could be your legacy.'

- Esmée Gummer

About the author

From broken neck and alcohol addiction to SAS: Who Dares Wins and ultra-marathons, James Gwinnett’s story is one of overcoming the hardships that life can cruelly throw at us.

A semi-pro rugby match in February 2013 marked a turning point in James’ life; a tackle-gone-wrong left him with a fracture to a vertebra in his neck.

Stripped of this macho identity, his healthy, disciplined routine was replaced with emptiness. His attempts to fill the hole with drinking left him in a spiral of self-medication and depression; he would spend three full years on a dark, tragic merry-go-round.

Redemption came in the form of a fitness challenge; running the London Marathon. Now eight years sober, this has extended to testing his body in a series of extreme endurance challenges. Marathons on several continents have turned to ultramarathons of increasing distances. In March 2020 he ran 250km in five days to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation, and in early September he took on his first 100-mile, single-day event. He became the first person to run the length of the Cotswolds Way (102miles) solo and unsupported in May 2021 and, in July, he took on the infamous Kennet & Avon Canal race, a mammoth 145mile race from London to Bristol – he came second.

James was also a ‘recruit’ on Series 4 of Channel 4’s acclaimed SAS: Who Dares Wins, the brutal show that puts civilians through a version of Special Forces training. Spending two weeks at altitude, high up in the Andes, James was one of eight to ‘survive’ through to the final day despite being pushed to his physical and mental limits.

Now a serial endurance challenger all over the world, James continues to hone his mental resilience, pushing himself further and further on a continual journey of growth.

Follow James on Instagram: @jamesgwinnett.