Born to Run

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question Why does my foot hurt In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime a fifty mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high tech science labs at Harvard to the sun baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.Source chrismcdougall.com Free Read Born to Run [ author ] Christopher McDougall [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr Let me begin this review by saying that I am not, and never have been, a runner Despite that fact, I was surprisingly fascinated by Chrisopher McDougall s account of how his desire to run without pain started him on a quest that led him both deep into Mexico s remote Copper Canyons and human evolutionary past.Born to Run begins as an adventure story While trying to figure out how to get his own foot to stop hurting, he saw an article about a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara Thes Let me begin this review by saying that I am not, and never have been, a runner Despite that fact, I was surprisingly fascinated by Chrisopher McDougall s account of how his desire to run without pain started him on a quest that led him both deep into Mexico s remote Copper Canyons and human evolutionary past.Born to Run begins as an adventure story While trying to figure out how to get his own foot to stop hurting, he saw an article about a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara These people were said to be able to run for days at a time through unforgiving terrain wearing nothingon their feet than sa...So I picked this book up, thinking it would be a cool story about this lost tribe of distance runners which it was but I got soooo muchthan I bargained for.Yes, I did learn about the Tarahumara tribe, but I also learned about the biomechanics of running and how shoe manufacturers disregard runner safety in preference of turning a profit, ultramarathons and the hardcore runners who participate in them, the lawless culture of Copper Canyon, the nearly lost techniques of persistence hun So I picked this book up, thinking it would be a cool story about this lost tribe of distance runners which it was but I got soooo muchthan I bargained for.Yes, I did learn about the Tarahumara tribe, but I also learned about the biomechanics of running and how shoe manufacturers disregard runner safety in preference of turning a profit, ultramarathons and the hardcore runners who participate in them, the lawless culture of Copper Canyon...I realise I m in minority here but I really didn t enjoy this book at all As a result of all the rave reviews I bought a copy for both myself and a friend we were both hugely disappointed.The author, Christopher McDougall, is an American magazine correspondent and this perhaps goes someway to explain a lot of what I didn t like about the book To begin with, it is written in a totally omniscient manner, ie McDougall can see inside everyone s head This is excessive, continuous, and extends I realise I m in minority here but I really didn t enjoy this book at all As a result of all the rave...With its excessive hyperbole, convenient omissions, misleading statistics, logical inconsistencies and plain old errors, I stopped thinking about this book as actual journalism after fifty pages Trying to read it as a novel wasn t that satisfying either because the book reads like several magazine pieces glued together rather than one continuous work The ...Truly, I cannot recall the last time I read a book that I loved as much as this.Should you think this book is for serious runners alone, please think again I am not by any means a runner I ran track in high school, but the runs I did were short, sweet, sprints After high school, I had a difficult time finding 200 yard dashes to race in, so I did a few 5k s I didn t love them much at all There was no way I was going to win a 5k, not ever The distance just sucked In retrospect, some trai Truly, I cannot recall the last time I read a book that I loved as much as this.Should you think this book is for serious runners alone, please think again I am not by any means a runner I ran track in high school, but the runs I did were short, sweet, sprints After high school, I had a difficult time finding 200 yard dashes to race in, so I did a few 5k s I didn t love them much at all There was no way I was going to win a 5k, not ever The distance just sucked In retrospect, some training may have helped I looked at most distance runners as mentally ill something was wrong with those people They were running from something, I decided, maybe from being fat, or being sad, maybe running from addictions or desires Nuts All of them Maybe I was just jealous of their slow twitch muscle fibers Most of the time I found the races to be miserable, and looking a...Painful as it was, I stayed with this until slightly past the halfway mark I kept hoping I might learnabout the Tarahumara people, but it was not to be There s very little about the Tarahumara, and almost everything about a bunch of self absorbed, obsessive long distance runners I have no patience with extreme athletes They need to strive for some balance in their lives The sport is not everything I also got tired of the gee golly wow ain t it all just lipsmackin... You don t stop running because you get old you get old because you stop running.After hearing my running friends rave about this book for years, I finally got around to reading it And now I owe them an apology, because I had gotten so sick of being preached at about chia seeds and running barefoot and vegetarianism and ultramarathons that I have been quietly rolling my eyes whenever anyone mentioned this friggin book But once I got into the story, all of my eye rolls stopped Sure, there were You don t stop running because you get old you get old because you stop running.After hearing my running friends rave about this book for years, I finally got around to reading it And now I owe them an apology, because I had gotten so sick of being preached at about chia seeds and running barefoot and vegetarianism and ultramarathons that I have been quietly rolling my eyes whenever anyone mentioned this friggin book But once I got into the story, all of my eye rolls stopped S...This has to be one of my favorite books of the last few years It s non fiction, but it reads like a thrilling adventure, complete with a high octane conclusion, all with a bit of science thrown in It s a fantastic look at the sport of ultra distance running, but trust me when I say that once ...While I am not a runner, I found this book to be quite engaging I can recommend it to anyone interested in running, indigenous peoples, or wacky characters This book is about long distance races over rugged, desert terrain It is about a hidden tribe, the Tarahumara, who live in the Copper Canyone area of the Sierra Madre, a remote, desert region in Mexico The tribe is very wary of strangers They speak their own native language They live in a rugged, wild country that takes days to reach Ju While I am not a runner, I found this book to be quite engaging I can recommend it to anyone interested in running, indigenous peoples, or wacky characters This book is about long distance races over rugged, desert terrain It is about a hidden tribe, the Tarahumara, who live in the Copper Canyone area of the Sierra Madre, a remote, desert region in Mexico The tribe is very wary of strangers They speak their own native language They liv... Born To Run was okay It s not great, it s not stellar, it s not maddening It s okay The writing is serviceable The research is a little spotty, but okay for the type of book this is It made me want to try running, just a little That s definitely saying something Note The rest of this review has bee...

• English
• 04 May 2018
Christopher McDougall
• Hardcover
• 287 pages
• 0307266303
• Christopher McDougall
• Born to Run