"Born To Run"

The book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall is an excellent and articulate sports adventure book about extreme endurance running. The races talked about in this book make marathons seem like walks in the park. 50 to 100 mile races over rough terrain are the norm. Besides telling the stories of races in the Copper Canyons of Mexico, in Leadville, Colorado, or in Death Valley, McDougall goes in depth about the theory behind the movement of running. He waxes about movement by our Ice Age ancestors, as well as by groups in Africa and other remote locations who have escaped the plight of modern, high tech shoes by Nike and Asics and the like. As someone who is interested in barefoot running and being able to run pain free while enjoying the run, this book is right up my alley. McDougall did a ton of research for the book, and made the stories and characters exciting and mysterious. Without a doubt, check out this book and open up your mind to the possibility of running pain free while improving your health on more than one level.

I had a chance to meet the author last week at a book signing at the Vivo Barefoot store down in NoLita, but had yet to read the book by that point. I truly regret that, as it would have been very rewarding to question him and hear his stories firsthand. For more book reviews and links related to the book, check these out:

Photos from the main race discussed in the book

Caballo Blanco's site

Barefoot Ted's review

Article about the book by the author