Author: Christopher McDougall
Number of Pages: 287
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review:
Born to Run tries to answer a question that most runners struggle with more than once in their running career: why do I get injured? The book answers this question in both expected and unexpected ways, as the author, Christopher McDougall, presents his story of being re-trained how to run by experienced coaches, and references data that suggests humans are “natural born runners” with feet that are built to run without much, if any, protection. All of this running theory is woven in a story of the Tarahumara people who live in the Copper Canyons of Mexico, and interwoven into that story is a story of an American man who chose to live and “run free” with those people and who worked hard to bring a group of American ultra runners into the Copper Canyons to have a race with the Tarahumara. Somehow, all of these different things tie together so well that the reader finishes the book feeling confident that it is possible that runners can go through life without regular injuries, and along the way those runners just might end up being better all-around people as well.
The Tarahumara are also known as the raramuri, or running people. They are a poor tribe that prefers to stay hidden from modern society within the Copper Canyon, and their day-to-day lives include a great deal of running. McDougall notes that they “may be the healthiest and most serene people on earth, and the greatest runners of all time.” They eat simple foods (like corn gruel, called pinole, and chia fresca, called iskiate), they live simple lives without modern conveniences, and due to their healthy lifestyle they have little illness and even the older people in their culture are able to run significant distances. McDougall points out that they have even been role models for successful American running coaches, mentioning one hugely successful American coach -- Joe Vigil -- who found that “it wasn’t just how to run; it was how to live, the essence of who we are as a species and what we’re meant to be” (99). Born to Run tells us some hints about why the Tarahumara are such good runners, and in doing this, it also tells us some secrets to living a happy and peaceful life.
But, you may be asking, how does a story about the Tarahumara and a bunch of ultra runners answer the question about running injuries? McDougall shares with us that “up to eight out of every ten runners are hurt every year. It doesn’t matter if you’re heavy or thin, speedy or slow, a marathon champ or a weekend huffer, you’re just as likely as the other guy to savage your knees, shins, hamstrings, hips, or heels” (9). His question about running injuries is a question that thus needs to be taken very seriously. One hint: the Tarahumara, in their simplicity, don’t have money or access to any kind of running shoe, and actually make extremely simple sandals out of used tire rubber, and then proceed to run hundreds of mile a week in them. McDougall presents data supporting this lack of serious footwear, and also looks into the evolutionary history of humans to try to figure out why we run in the first place. Born to Run provides plenty of convincing data and leaves even the non-runner thinking perhaps they should try to become a runner. McDougall is convincing in his argument that running is so built into us as humans that we are truly “born to run.”
Born to Run shares the story of a mixture of people who cross cultural barriers to run a 50-mile race in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. Along the way we learn some things about Tarahumara history, running techniques, human evolution, American ultra running, and even healthy eating. But, more than that, we learn quite a few "magic formula(s) for fast running ... stuff like 'Practice abundance by giving back,' and ... 'show integrity to your value system'"(119). There's quite a bit to be taken from Born to Run, and most readers interested in any type of self-improvement will enjoy reading it, and perhaps even grow in some way from the experience.
Although you seemed to enjoy your book quite a lot, I wonder if this would be a book I could relate to. I like running for sure but this book seems boring or redundant solely based on the idea of how much can you really include in a story about running? But perhaps it is beyond the act of running and more the discipline of running. I can respect that. Great work on your review. Lots of effort put forth.
ReplyDelete