Born to Run

Read from Monday, February 6th to Thursday, February 9th.

Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall, is a fascinating non-fiction book that literally got me out of the door and onto trails.  I like books that actually have an influence on my life, and this book has been one of them, prompting me to run a lot more over the past few weeks.  BTR is the story of the Tarahumara tribe of the Copper Canyon in Mexico.  This tribe has existed mostly unperturbed by modern society, and they are known for their running ability.  Every member of the tribe is able to run incredibly long distances, usually over hundreds of miles at a time, at a fast pace, and without the numerous injuries that plague runners in our country.

McDougall profiles many of these Indians, along with Caballo Blanco, a white American from Colorado who is almost an honorary tribe member.  Caballo Blanco's main goal, and the main plot of the book, is to set up an epic ultra-marathon of 50 miles, in the Copper Canyon, pitting the Tarahumara against some of America's top ultra-runners.  McDougall discusses the world of Ultra-running in America, and some of the great races.  Some of these are up in the Rockies, or the woods of Virginia, or even Death Valley.  He also details his own training regimen, modeled after the Tarahumara, as he prepared for the race himself.  The diet was crucial, and it was all vegan.  He also advocates running barefoot, or in those Vibram five-fingers, because it is closest to our evolutionary progress, and it strengthens the feet.  In the years since Nike introduced the padded shoe, injuries have skyrocketed in the U.S., but are virtually non-existent in the Copper Canyon, where they only wear light sandals.

McDougall argues that humans evolved to be long-distance runners.  We are bipeds so that we can get more air into our lungs, and we practiced persistence hunting.  Unable to catch antelopes on a quick sprint, prehistoric humans hunted the same antelope over hundreds of miles, until it collapsed from exhaustion.  We are meant to run for a long time, but our sedentary society has evolved away from that.

The race finally ends up happening, and McDougall does a great job storytelling.  It is a close race, but it ends up binding the two cultures together over running.  I know it sounds cheesy, but it is an uplifting message.  The best advice in the book, and the advice that I have been passing along to others, is that to be a good runner, and to be able to run for a long time, you have to simply love running.  After I finished the book, I went out for a run, and I didn't want to stop because I was having a great time, just exploring, feeling good and getting the endorphins going.  I ran two hours that day.  I highly recommend reading this book, it is very inspirational.  I loaned it out to a friend the next day and others have requested to borrow it as well.  For what it tries to be, Born to Run gets Five out of Five stars.