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

In my internet wanderings today, I found another barefoot running article from the prolific proponent Chris McDougall, author of "Born to Run." This article ran in "Parade" and just gives a general overview about unshod running. My favorite quote from the article is from a professor of physical therapy:

"Davis herself tried running barefoot and now is logging up to four miles a day on asphalt. Doesn't it hurt?

"No," she says. "The harder the surface, the more lightly you land and the more easily you spring back." The human body instinctively modifies itself to different kinds of terrain-- just think back to when you were a kid and how it felt to run barefoot on the grass, sand, or pavement. "

Have a great weekend everyone!

I just finished watching a talk by the author of Born to Run, Christopher McDougall, summarizing parts of his book.  His talk is about 30 minutes long, and the q&a session is about the same length.  I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're too lazy to read the book.  Check it out here: