Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

After I finished this book, someone asked me whether it’s a good book for non-runners. Honestly, I have no idea.

Running has been a big part of my life for some time now. For the last ten years I’ve run. So it’s hard to say. When you put enough time into something, it’s pretty hard to separate yourself from it.

I can’t write a review from a non-runner’s perspective because that would be total speculation on my part.

What I can do is tell you that this is a fantastic book. If you are a runner, this is a must-read, easily the best book about running out there, and I’ve read a ton. You won’t find anything this in-depth, in touch, and you’ll never read anything else that gives you the vicarious thrills of superathletes and show more scientists alike.

The story is about the greatest endurance race of all time, but really that’s only a small part. It’s about a man who is feeling his body age and trying to figure what he can do about it. It’s about Caballo Blanco, a living legend whose story, a tall tale, is only more incredible because it is 100% true. The story of the Leadville 100 and the Tarahumara racing against Ann Trason is one of the best sports stories on the planet, expertly told by McDougall, and as any great sports story, it brings about greater truths about who we are and why we run.

More than anything, this books sets out to prove its title. Through science, through example, and through story after story of one incredible athlete after another, this book will leave no doubt in your mind that the greatest athletes in the world still like to get their drink on, that a group of humans can run down a deer, and that you and I were born to do it too.

It’s motivated me to try some new things. I don’t know if chia seeds are making me faster or stronger. And I can’t say for sure that barefoot running has unchained my feet and transformed them into running machines. But I can say that the spirit of the runners, Barefoot Ted, Scott Jurek, Billy “Bonehead” and Jen, the Lunas, and the dozens of characters in this book, each one more incredible than the last, the spirit of these runners is infectious and fuck this review I’m hitting the road. show less

Тази много широко рекламирана и много популярна книга за бягането се оказа поредния ню-ейдж боклук, гарниран с хипстър био натурален боклук и за капак псевдо-спортен боклук.

Да, в Андите 100% има митично загубено племе вегетарианци, които с една шепа чия на ден бягат по 300 км боси по планинските камънаци. Да, никой никога не ги е чувал и виждал, защото са древна забравена легенда но авторът успява да ги намери show more след дълго и мъчително търсене, изразяващо се в това да пита пиколото в хотела. Да, чия (тва са едни семенца) накисната във вода е тайната рецепта на племето, вълшебната енергийна напитка, която е супер био-еко-натурална и съдържа "енергийна и витаминна бомба" колкото десет други био-еко-натуралнаи ястия на едно.

Да, бягането е супер вредно, защото има мерзък корпоративен заговор на големите корпоративни корпорации за корпоративното производство на обувки за бягане с корпоративната фарма-мафия да ни държат в неведение, че всъщност ако бягаме боси всичко ще ни е наред (а не, както е всъщност, че меките обувки ти позволяват да бягаш на пети, което вредно за ставите, и че ако бягаш на пръсти всичко е ок).

Всичко в "Родени да тичат през каньоните на Мексико" е толкова предвидимо и по сценарий, че няма на къде повече - даже може да се каже, че авторът е събрал всички сценарии, които продават псевдо-научна и псевдо-медицинска литература, предавания, добавки и еко-био-картофи по 9 лв килото нарочно и е нацелил рецептата която да продаде книгата му. show less

Christopher McDougall, a US men's magazine writer, was fed up repeatedly injuring himself on insignificant short runs, prompting a trail of discovery into what makes ultrarunners such as the infamous Tarahumara tick and why the rates of runner injury have been significantly climbing ever since the invention of clever cushioned running shoes.

Even if you last ran in 1972 when you were 12 years old, I think this is a fantastic read for anyone. Part science, part travelogue, part social history, part anthropology, part extreme sport, it's peppered with a cast of fabulous characters such as the shy and reclusive Tarahumara people who run hundreds of miles up mountains for fun in sandals made out of old tyres, Caballo Blanco, the mysterious show more loner who turned his back on a life in the US to become an ultrarunning nomad in the Copper Canyon wilderness, and Barefoot Ted, the annoying US ultrarunner with insatiable verbal diarrhoea who became a respected pioneer for barefoot running.

It's utterly fascinating, and extremely well written. McDougall manages to really nicely knit investigation into the science and history of our bodies and distance running with a gripping travelogue which culminates in the first ever underground ultra race between the Tarahumara and a handful of selected US ultrarunners in the deadly terrain of their Copper Canyon homeland. As I read I was able to Google this infamous cast of characters and images of the Copper Canyon which really nicely complemented the book.

And in case you were wondering, it's the marketing devilment of Nike and the like that is behind our increased running injuries. Build up the natural muscles in your feet and ankles that the modern day running shoe prevents you using and your injury woes will behind you. Apparently.

5 stars - the Asics are in the bin and the barefoot trails are beckoning. show less

Headline: I love this book; you should read it.

For a more considered analysis read on...

Born To Run is a great book. It's a fantastic story, backed up with a load of fascinating research. If you're at all interested in running or have a slight curiosity why you're not while others inexplicably are, you should get a lot out of this book. I assume this covers pretty much everyone, so.... Read This Book.

McDougall has constructed Born To Run very well, effortlessly linking sections on
topics as diverse as evolutionary biology, anthropology, diet, physiology, and a great deal of history about endurance running and runners, with the surprising story of the creation of the "Mas Locas" ("Most Crazy") endurance race in the Mexican Copper Canyons. show more Thanks in part to a cast of great characters, the story itself is really fun and interesting, and that threads its way through a bunch of eye-opening anecdotes, facts and theories. In particular, McDougall reaches the startling conclusion that, far from running being an unnatural activity that inevitably leads to injury, humans have specifically evolved to be the best long-distance runners on the planet.

A lot of the hype around this book has centred on McDougall's argument that modern running shoes cause many of the injuries associated with running, and that going barefoot is a healthier way to run (as it is what we evolved to do). While McDougall's case seems strong - to this layman at least - it is a relatively small component of the book. Indeed McDougall himself uses traditional trainers (Nike Pegasus) during the book (although has since started using minimal or no footwear).

McDougall is a magazine journalist, and this shows through at times. Occasionally he builds up a lead-in to the next section a little too much; once or twice the tension he creates is a little artificial; and he may at times grab over enthusiastically for a soundbite. As a review in the Washington Post notes, McDougall sometimes reports incidents as if he were there, when we know he wasn't. I don't think this is to the book's detriment - it's just its style; I found it noticeable, but that's all.

I genuinely think that this is a book that could change lives. McDougall takes pains to make running seem accessible; he manages to convey his initial frustration with running (with which many will empathise), but then also communicates the interest which keeps him pursuing it, despite advice from his doctors to give up. He comes across as an ingenuous and incuisitive, and occasionally callow, everyman, and throughout his sheer enthusiasm for his subject shines through. It is a winning mix, which should draw a wide range of readers into his engaging and frequently surprising book.

There was one section of Born To Run which really took me by surprise. If you haven't read the book and think you might, I'd suggest reading no more of this review - you will probably enjoy reading it there more than here.

Anyway - for those still with me - McDougall covers some theories about the importance of running to the evolution of Homo sapiens. The basic idea is that we evolved for endurance running so that we could hunt animals (which could run faster over short distances, but not over a sufficiently long distance), which he backs up with lots of tantalising and intriguing evidence.

So far, so "okay, interesting". One of the biologists who conceived this idea, and in lieu of direct evidence, wanted to put it to the test, and tried hunting deer simply by chasing them until they could run no more. The problem he found was that he would lose the deer he was chasing in the herd, where they could rest while another was hunted for a bit. The experiment failed utterly, and the basis of the running theory of human evolution looked shaky.

However, based on another person's experience with the Bushmen of the Kalahari, the theory was adapted: the hunters do not just chase, they also track. They pick a particular animal, following its footsteps and other markers, and make sure it is singled out so that it couldn't escape back into the herd.

This then implies that the ability to follow a single animal - tracking - would have been entwined with running as an evolutionary advantage; running or tracking on their own would not have been anything like as much benefit. Tracking involves reasoning, time projection, empathy... even imagination; in short, some of the basics of consciousness.

That is, to me, such a surprising conclusion that I think it's worth reiterating: the theory posits that the human mind evolved alongside, and in some ways as a direct consequence of, our evolved ability to run.

I have no idea whether this theory (clearly over-simplified here) is accepted or discredited or under review in the scientific community (although it is supported by the human brain showing massive development at the same time our bodies seem to have adapted to running).

Whichever way, it is a fascinating and surprising hypothesis, and elevates Born To Run from a sporting memoir to something loftier. McDougall goes from discussing his problems with training shoes, to profound thoughts about the origin of the species - literally from the banal to the sublime. show less

I began reading several books simultaneously, then dutifully picked up this one because the author is local and scheduled to speak at the county running club banquet next week. I vaguely knew of it as the barefoot running book, did not expect to get so immediately caught up in a story of adventure and mystery and human character. It's about the Tarahumara people, whose distance running skills are developed through childhood games, of the Copper Canyon in Mexico, accessible by a bus winding along the edges of cliffs, where below lie the mangled vehicles of less skillful drivers, followed by a hike through hot desert mountains, where getting lost can mean a frighteningly rapid descent into dehydration and death. It's about show more ultramarathoners, for whom marathons are too trivial and mundane, who thrive outside the scope of scientifically designed training plans. It's about a white man with unrevealed origins who has lived among the Tarahumara for a decade, who runs miles along trails to the nearest telephone line to email ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, challenging him to a 50 mile race with the best Tarahumara runners. It's about Chris McDougall's foot, which made running a mere few miles too painful to endure. It's about running shoes and technologically advanced cushioning of the heel, which causes injuries the manufacturers claim to prevent. It's about human evolution, how slower weaker primates with bodies that release heat can endure beyond the capacities of the faster stronger animals they hunt. All neatly and humorously and affectionately woven together.

(read 22 Jan 2011) show less

I read a review of Born To Run in Science News and immediately ordered it. The timing could not have been more perfect as spring has finally arrived and I had totally slacked off running this winter. And let me make one thing clear, I am no athlete, I have (manageable) asthma. I just like the simplicity of running, but I don't run far or fast, although that might change now.
Here then, is the nugget: "...the loudest voice in your ear is your ancient survival instinct urging you to relax. And there's the bitter irony: our fantastic endurance gave our brain the food it needed to grow, and now our brain is undermining our endurance." McDougall juggles three different threads in Born To Run: his own story as a big man with little apparent show more 'talent' for running; then the story of a white man, nicknamed Caballo Blanco, who dreams of hosting a special race in the land where he has chosen to live, the Copper Canyons of Mexico among the Tarahumara (one of the last indigenous tribes who run because they always have); and last and best, the story of our innate ability as humans to run long long distances. Among other thought-provoking facts and theories: Humans are the only mammal that can breathe as much as we want to while running, all other animals are limited to one breath per stride. It seems likely that at one time humans ran down prey because all other animals overheat within about two or three hours (about the time it takes a fit person to run our favorite long-distance race, a marathon).
I'd write more, but I've got an itch to go running. show less

I didn't have very high expectations for this book, but it turned out to be a fast, absorbing, interesting read about ultrarunning, barefoot running, The Tarahumara Indians' running culture, and the evolutionary advantages of human distance running abilities.

It's one of those "can't-stop-reading" types of books. I expected to read a few pages now and then, taking a couple of weeks to read, but I finished it in about 3 days of obsessed reading. No doubt the author idealizes his subjects, but that's okay -- just take it for what it is. All the personalities are interesting, and it's a glimpse into an unseen world of ultrarunning that completely absorbs the lives of the people who live within it. I've known only one ultramarathoner, and show more the profile fits.

The Tarahumara are another story. The book focuses on the place of running in their culture and on their running accomplishments. It'd be great to hear even more about them, a people that values their invisibility and repels publicity. Or maybe it's better not to disturb them. show less