Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

by Christopher McDougall

Book Overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The astonishing 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?

"Equal parts quest, physiology treatise, and running history.... The climactic race reads like a sprint.... It simply makes you want to run." --Outside Magazine

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.

Look for Born to Run 2, out now

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307266303
• ISBN13: 9780307266309
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

This book was amazing and I loved it! I am not in the best shape and the thought of running used to make me feel terrible. After reading this, I want to try my hand at running. This book was very entertaining and well written. It's about so much more than running and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Great read

Entertaining read while the author covers what ultrarunners go through and shares those thoughts through telling stories about a 50 mile race in Mexico. Highly recommended!

A Run Revolution is BORN

There is no confusing the message of this book and it starts with the title. It is a message of adventure, inspiration, hope, revelation, and living your life unconditionally. If you are a runner, you will want to read this book so slowly, not wanting it to end. And, you will most likely be wanting to head out for a run after each chapter anyway. If you are a frustrated runner with injuries or a beginning runner, this book gives you HOPE and possibility. Quite simply, McDougall lays the foundation of how we were all Born to Run and tells you why we "should" be running. Most of all, this book leaves a lasting "runners high" for runners and non-runners alike. This is a story about following your passion and how powerful self belief can be. We are all born to run, but maybe even more important, we are born to be individuals, and McDougall is masterful at taking a true running adventure with real characters and illustrates how powerful running can be to life, and how powerful life can be to running.

A phenomenal book about running but more importantly a way of life

My wife handed me Born to Run about 24 hours ago and said "you might like this." Having run quite a bit but nursing an achilles tendon injury for about 3 years, I had almost given up on my dreams of getting back into marathon shape. 24 hours (and very little sleep) later, I feel inspired, awed, and enlightened, and I have Christopher's wonderful book to thank. In a nutshell, I have not been this entralled by a story since Shadow Divers, Seabiscuit and/or Into Thin Air. Christopher's recounting of the forbidding Copper Canyons, the amazing Tarahumara, ultramarathoners young and old, and the greatest race you've never heard of is enough for me to give this a rave review. But like the aforementioned books, there is so much more to this story, not the least of which was Christopher's own quest (and amazing resiliency) to run without pain. Finally, he put to words many of the thoughts and feelings I've had about running but am unable to articulate. And Christopher is a great writer - I laughed out loud many times throughout. He has a style akin to a Timothy Cahill - a great wit that was obviously aided by a wonderfully intriguing cast of characters. As the sun was coming up this morning I was a bit sad to see this book end, and am already contemplating picking it up again. But only after I strap on the old, beaten up sneaks and get in a quick jog. Thanks so much for writing this book - I hope it changes lives and perspectives in the process.

A great story and so much more

Born to Run succeeds at three levels. First, it is a page turner. The build up to a fifty-mile foot race over some of the world's least hospitable terrain drives the narrative forward. Along the way McDougall introduces a cast of characters worthy of Dickens, including an almost superhuman ultramarathoner, Jenn and the Bonehead--a couple who down bottles of booze to warm up for a race, Barefoot Ted, Mexican drug dealers, a ghostly ex-boxer, a heartbroken father, and of course the Tarahumara, arguably the greatest runners in the world. Born to Run is such a rip-roaring yarn, that it is easy to miss the book's deeper achievements. At a second level, McDougall introduces and explores a powerful thesis--that human beings are literally born to run. Recreational running did not begin with the 1966 publication of "Jogging" by the co-founder of Nike. Instead, McDougall argues, running is at the heart of what it means to be human. In the course of elaborating his thesis, McDougall answers some big questions: Why did our ancestors outlive the stronger, smarter Neanderthals? Why do expensive running shoes increase the odds of injury? The author's modesty keeps him from trumpeting the novelty and importance of this thesis, but it merits attention. Finally, Born to Run presents a philosophy of exercise. The ethos that pervades recreational and competitive running--"no pain, no gain," is fundamentally flawed, McDougall argues. The essence of running should not be grim determination, but sheer joy. Many of the conventions of modern running--the thick-soled shoes, mechanical treadmills, take no prisoners competition, and heads-down powering through pain dull our appreciation of what running can be--a sociable activity, more game than chore, that can lead to adventure. McDougall's narrative moves the book forward, his thesis provides a solid intellectual support, but this philosophy of joy animates Born to Run. I hope this book finds the wide audience it deserves.

The Cure for Modernity

If, when you finish with this book, you don't immediately get yourself outside and run like hell, then there's probably not a drop of living blood in you. This book is the perfect antidote to everything that's wrong with modern running and the way to find everything that's still so right with it. Even if it were all a work of fiction McDougall's tale would still be worth the price of admission. Fabulous.