Born to Run

Born to Run is a non-fiction book that I listened to this fall by Christopher McDougall.

http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259950192&sr=8-1

The full title of the book is actually Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen. The book is about the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico. They are very traditional, solitary, shy people that run as a way of life and excel in long distance running.

The important messages that I got from the book is that running is great, running should be for the purity of the sport, and big shoe companies are evil.

The central story is about McDougall going to meet the publicity shy Tarahumaras. On the way he meets a mysterious American, who goes by the name of Caballo Blanco. Blanco follows the
Tarahumara ways and is trusted by the tribe. Blanco has a dream of having a ultra race between the Tarahumaras and a few top American ultra runners. McDougall works with Caballo Blanco for several years to make the race a reality. The main story was the best part of the book.

McDougall has a great deal of enthusiasm for his topics. The book goes on several different tangents not directly related to the Tarahumara tribe from discussing injuries to the modern runner, barefoot running, ultra marathons and the importance of running in the evolution of man. At times McDougall's passion is infectious and at other times I could not wait for the book to get back on track.

One particular part of the book that that has gotten a lot of attention is the chapter of barefoot running. http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/fitness/sns-health-barefoot-running-shoes,0,5406706.story The book has clearly helped to start of fad in the running community with the foot protection mentioned in the book. http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ . When I was listening to the book, I was considering getting a pair of the five fingers and occasionally running barefoot. However, since finishing the book, I lost interest in running barefoot.

I love to run and I love to read, so this book seemed like a natural for me. I did like the reader of the recording. However, it was not the home run I would have thought. McDougall obviously feeling very strongly about what he writes, but at times he came off as snobbish and superior to the average person. In addition, he tried too hard to make the characters interesting. Everyone was so quirky.

I enjoyed the book, but felt that the book would have been better if McDougall stuck more to the main story. I give Born to Run a B-.