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Loading... Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the… (2009)by Christopher McDougall
  
» 9 more Penguin Random House (56) No current Talk conversations about this book. The writing style got on my nerves; not sober enough. Some of the anecdotes, stories and scientific hypothesis were quite interesting and original (  ) AlexejGerstmaier | May 26, 2020 |  Very interesting and reads more like a novel: that's a compliment :) (  ) AnthonyLib | May 25, 2020 | This book is a fantastic read - the author is a former war correspondent and now writes for Men's Health - that manages to combine a ripping yarn with inspiration and information. By drawing together the story of various ultra-runners and running events, recent research about running and its potential place in human evolution, a tribe of 'ultra-runners' hidden in the canyons of Mexico and many other factors besides, McDougall manages to use many tangents to write a paean to the joys of running that will inspire even the most sedentary of writers. And even if you have no interest in running at all, there are still good reasons to pick this book up - the human interest stories, the great character portraits, the science, the overall narrative. But in the end, if you read this book and are not the least inspired to get out there and run, even if just to the end of the block and back, I would be surprised. And that is the real genius of this book - the author manages to make running seem not a chore one does out of an obligation or for fitness alone, but as something that can become a meditation, a joyous pursuit or a reason for being. ( ) ForrestFamily | Mar 26, 2020 | A fun, fast, and informative read - focuses mostly on ultras, and makes me want to get out and run an ultra at some point. ( ) joerocklin | Mar 23, 2020 | A runner with foot pain is inspired to learn about people who run ludicrously long distances without injury, particularly the reclusive Tarahumara Native Mexican tribe in the Copper Canyons. His experiences are pretty cool and now I totally want to run an ultramarathon, but I confess I am pretty dubious of the magical powers of barefoot running and chia (I'm not dubious of some of their benefits, but I'm not convinced it's the panacea for everybody's feet everywhere). Still, it was fun to get a glimpse inside the lives of people who thoroughly enjoy something I want to love but find terribly unpleasant. But hey, maybe I just need to kick off my shoes! Have some chia! Eat salad for breakfast! ( ) melydia | Dec 22, 2019 |
“Born to Run” is not the best book on the intricacies of the sport—my pick would be Timothy Noakes’s “Lore of Running”; for a training guide, I’d select Scott Douglas and Pete Pfitzinger’s “Advanced Marathoning”—but it’s certainly the most accessible and the best selling... the real virtue of McDougal’s book is that it reminded readers about our primal connection to running, the purest of sports. It reminded us that there are different ways to run—some of which hurt our bodies more than others. And it gave us new ways of appreciating distance running. It has, in other words, made hundreds of thousands of people look at the sport again "Born to Run" uses every trick of creative nonfiction, a genre in which literary license is an indispensable part of truth-telling. McDougall has arranged and adrenalized his story for maximum narrative impact. Questions crop up about the timing of events and the science behind the drama, but it's best to keep pace with him and trust that -- separate from the narrative drama -- we're actually seeing a glimpse of running's past and how it may apply to the present and the future.
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