Book Review: Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall

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Intriguing title! I thought. What does the back cover say?  My reader taste buds tingling, I plucked the book off the shelf of the wall book display. (Is there anything better than browsing a curated indie bookstore?) I flipped it over.

“ A tale so mind-blowing as to be the stuff of legend.” –The Denver Post

Isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury.

What?! As a physician and failed jogger (all pain, no gain), these words stopped me short. Deadly? Blissful? 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.

I bought the book.

Let me tell you, from the opening epigram (The best runner leaves no tracks. Tao Te Ching) to the last sentence (“Running should be free, man.”), my mind was blown, my curiosity piqued and slaked, piqued and slaked again. The writing is fan-freaking-tastic. Along with information sardine-packed in amazing sentences, you’re given an epic adventure that is absolutely mesmerizing. I stayed up much too late.

Will McDougall track down Caballo Blanco, the one guy (does he exist?) that can lead him to the Tarahumara (do they exist?)? If they do, will they talk to him?

What is the difference between how they run 100+ miles vs. how ultra marathoners run them?

Why do the majority of today’ runners, including the author, injure themselves repeatedly, while the Tarahumara don’t? Will McDougall ever run again without injury?

McDougall asserts (with supporting evidence) that humans are running animals, and that from the dawn of time, the ancients ran their meat to ground without weapons. Without any artifacts to prove it, was this hypothesis testable?

A bunch of eccentric superathletes race the Tarahumara in the greatest race the world has never seen. Who wins?

Does the book answer these burning questions? YES. And many more. I may start running again. But not so much that it cuts into my reading time.

Unfortunately, you can’t run and read my book at the same time.

Unfortunately, you can’t run and read my book at the same time.