I ordered this book and it arrived very quickly. I read it in one day - it was a relly good book and grabbed your attention immediately.
If you are a runner at any level this is a great read.
Must read for all runners!
As an endurance coach, I recommend all of my athletes read Born to Run before we get started. McDougall has a way with words and weaves an incredible amount of information into an easy-to-read narrative. This book could save your legs!
Reason to run
I've been an on again off again runner, but this book has convinced me to man up and just run. I'm now planning on tackling a marathon, and have my eye towards ultramarathons in the future.
Mcdougall does a great job in weaving in a lot of research about distance running in his own narrative of running with an elite tribe of runners in the Mexican wilderness. Great read, and if this can't motivate you nothing will!
Without going into long, tedious detail, this book inspired me to run barefoot, run longer, and gave me a deep and meaningful connection with exercise that I had once lacked.
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.
based on 516 reviews
