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The astonishing national bestseller and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run.
An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?
Isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.
4.5
Reviewer: R Grant
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This book positively helped make my life permanently better!
Review: Although I’m not an avid runner by any means, nor have I really ever been, I found this book to be a great read. It’s an engrossing, entertaining, and well written story about the author’s boldly persistent adventures during an unwavering quest for elusive answers to perplexing questions.And, as any great read might do it allowed me to feel connected, however remotely, to interesting peoples; and exotic places I probably wouldn’t’ve ever been able to imagine existed no matter how many more years I might live.More importantly, to me personally; it was what made me aware of: the existence and potential benefits of minimalist footwear; and, the absurdity of the school of thought that would have us believe nature’s evolutionary design success with the human foot can be vastly improved by a plethora of modern footwear gimmickry. And lastly, how transitioning back to nature’s time-tested, time-proven way (barefoot) might actually reset one’s ambulatory infrastructure to where it’s meant to be in the first place â the place it took a significant long two million years or so to leisurely perfect on its own.In fact: the wealth of somewhat esoteric information in this book proved to be an unparalleled revelation which provided me with fresh insights fundamental to my particular set of circumstances at that time.The key reason being; that although I’ve never actually suffered from plantar fasciitis or related knee injuries; as a teenager I was thrown off a galloping horse that stopped abruptly, and I landed on a fallen tree in a mountain wilderness area; sustaining multiple, grievous internal injuries due to the ensuing trauma. One of the worst, besides being diagnosed with hypogycemia and hypoadrenocorticism [aka secondary adrenal insufficiency], was a herniated lumbar disc which I’ve painfully had to deal with for most of my adult life. Walking, running, and sometimes even just standing at some kind of work-station or another has at times caused me severe and disabling lumbar spasms.The point is, after reading about the Tarahumara and the running-shoe industry; I decided to purchase a pair of zero-drop shoes (aka foot-gloves) and soon started the transition period. Walking for an hour or so each day to start with and slowly increasing the time as quickly as I deemed prudent.After about three months I was up to ten miles a day (on a good day) and felt the physical transition to be mostly complete at that time.It was then I tossed my expensive running shoes into the trash; along with my very expensive shoe orthotic inserts; and have never looked back. It’s been about six years now since my last visit to an Osteopath or Chiropractor (yeah, for real!).Astonishingly, other than some recent lower back pain from sleeping on a soft, worn-out mattress my bad disc has mostly been behaving its otherwise typically fickle-self for almost every day of those six years.Nor am I flatfooted by any means either! My arches have remained as healthily high, and every bit as strong (probably much stronger) as they ever were, and this without any arch-support whatsoever thank you very much.Neither am I otherwise suffering from any other sort of chronic foot/knee pain, even though I frequently walk for miles at a time (love walking now more than ever); and even jog a bit on occasion.And although I still prefer my bicycle for serious “endorphin hunting” (the only thing I’ve ever been hopelessly addicted to in my entire life); walking/jogging now feel decidedly better than they did with typical athletic-type shoes before transitioning. Indeed, this totally sordid business of genuinely needing arch-supports in modern shoes seems like an enormously cruel joke to me now. To be clear: the irony here being that apparently, the exact reasons I perceived requiring their dubious benefits in the first place; were primarily due to the fact (lumbar disc issues aside) that the footwear I’ve been beguiled into enduring most of my life was indeed the biggest, most pernicious joke of all!To conclude: after delving into Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run for the second time this decade, one of my takeaways is that; it’s not just a book for runners, elite or otherwise. It’s also an entertaining book for the open-minded everyman with an adventurous spirit.
Reviewer: M. Franta
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Anyone can run, anytime, anywhere!!!
Review: I love to get outside and walk, then try my legs at running, but mostly what I do is I trot. I had to read this book, because it is a famous runner’s classic by now, and I wanted to learn more about our fabulous human anatomy and how the author, Christopher McDougall assures the reader that we were truly evolved to run.My personal trainer warned me NOT to run, because I am obese.If you were to look at my body, you would not really say I’m obese, but I am overweight or you might say that I am fat. You won’t get in trouble for saying that, even though it’s sort of mean, because it’s the truth and I need to do something about it!So, I need to work out at the gym and I need to run because running burns lots of calories.I happen to love my body, however – and I DO run, because I LOVE the way that it makes my body feel!This book delves into the joy of running, and there is alot of helpful scientific facts that support the notion that all human beings who can walk, can also run.The author assures us that our bodies were designed to run, and in fact, humans have been running to just survive on this planet since the day we appeared on this beautiful earth.Now – I will never be a half-marathoner, and I don’t even want to think of being a marathoner; 26 miles is just too much for me to wrap my mind around. But I can do a 5K, and maybe if I try hard and adjust my attitude, I can do a 10K! After reading this book, I know that I can do anything that I set my mind to doing. Running long distances does require some training, dietary support and strategy.McDougall tells a wonderful story about the Tarahumara Indians that run through treacherous trails in the Copper Mountains of Mexico, and the dangers that follow them, which only encourages them to run faster. It is a funny book; full of great scientific insight and suggestions for thought for all of us who dream of running.McDougall’s attitude is contagious; the longer I live, the more I realize that it is our attitudes that help us to achieve our goals. Having a positive attitude can push a person to get up and get out and run. Attitude is more important than appearance, than education, than money or circumstances. Attitude can either make you win or lose; it is up to the individual. After reading this book, I realized that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% on how I react to it. I learned that having the most expensive running shoes is not the best plan…as a matter of fact, McDougall claims that the more expensive the running shoe, the more likely it will cause foot problems or injury!McDougall promotes cheap, beat-up old running shoes or Vibrams; which I always had such a low opinion of because of their extreme ugliness. Nobody wants to see your toes! Feet are somewhat ugly, and Vibrams make them look even uglier; I don’t like to show my feet off if I don’t have to.But anyhow – – – I loved that McDougall discusses the Mexican diet of pinto beans, tortillas and rice, with some form of protein added to the plate. He gets into Chia, which is a weird plant based grain that I normally never noticed, but now I will go to the health food store and give it a try. You can add it to your cereal, or main dishes or create a drink out of Chia. It’s supposed to be a clean and energy packing food. Diet has an enormous impact on one’s ability to run and run and run.I can’t imagine running for four hours straight, though. I know my limitations. Or are they just self-imposed, imaginary limitations that I should endeavor to smash through like they don’t exist? This book has adjusted my attitude about how I view my body.Attitude is what drove this man to overcome his own pain while running, and he achieved a high level of running performance by the end of the book.Get the book, read it – savor it like a hot bowl of delicious soup on a cold, dank and rainy day!There is alot to learn inside of it and I guarantee you will enjoy the process of reading it.
Reviewer: D
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: I stumbled upon this and was mesmerized what a great read. I highly recommend and am so grateful for Christopher McDougall’s unrelenting journey to uncover why his feet hurt and his witty story telling.I am not always a runner and ashamed to admit it as it takes a lot of self discipline to get going again. However when l was on my game running 3+ times a week 2-5km and participating in 5km Park Run my feet kept falling asleep … I tried different Runners more cushion, no luck. I went back to trail running just a flat stiff sole and feet responded. Now that it’s Spring no snow I have ordered a pair of Running Barefoot shoes.
Reviewer: Jason
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: fiendishly well written, amusing and deeply touching. This book can be enjoyed by runners and non-runners alike. It reads like the cracking adventure story that it is but packs in wisdom, intrigue and some hard science to boot. I loved this book. It has inspired me to make pinole to fuel my own ultras.Essential reading for all pedestrians. 10\10.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Super recommend for runners at all levels.
Reviewer: XXX
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Grandiose Reise durch das Geschehen des Ultralaufens und ein vällig neuer Einblick in ein Volk, dass mir bis dato unbekannt war. Der Autor hat einen tollen Schreibfluss und Erzählstil!
Reviewer: Benyahia
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Histoire captivante pour qui aime la course a pied. Facile a lire, pleine dâinformations passionnantes sur la course a pied, et très prenante. Une fois passé les dix premières pages on ne lâche plus le bouquin !
