Born to Run recounts the author, Christopher McDougall's quest to answer the simple question, " Why does my foot hurt?". He tried to get this answered because everytime he tried to run, he ended up getting injured in some way or another. He went to specialist after specialist and followed the advice of each one and their solutions and would after a time still end up getting injured. This does not surprise me because if you hang around with a group of runners long enough, then you will soon find that the conversation will most likely find its way to everyone's long laundry list of running injuries. And I'm not free from this, I usually get injured due to running at least once every year (I'm currently nursing an Achilles's injury that I sustained back in late October). This also does not surprise me since runners are using their bodies and demanding from it like few others. If this were cars we were talking about, then it would all make sense: the vehicles being used the most are the ones that need to be worked on, tuned up, replacement parts, etc. the most.
However, all of this was unacceptable to McDougall. He was tired of the circular logic of: How come my foot hurts? Because running is bad for you. Why is running bad for you? Because it makes your foot hurt. He loved to run. He felt that it brought together a human's " two greatest primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time." (Pg. 11) So, McDougall digs as deep as he has to dig in order to find a real remedy. In his digging, he recounts the two big running booms in the USA, before the Great Depression and the 70's boom, the good and the very bad about running shoe companies, the estimated reasons why primative man ran at all, and why modern man still feels the urge to run, but ended up getting injured. And all of this leads him to the Tarahumara, a tribe that lives in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico and lives as it did thousands of years ago and routinely runs 100 mile races and the older one gets, the better he/she gets which is directly opposite of what we currently think and see.
This book is a great read and I'm so glad it was given to me (Thanks, Mom!). It is 281 pages long, but it only took me a week or so to read it and I'm a slow reader and only to get to read at lunch on occasion or at night before I fall asleep. McDougall does a wonderful job of showing the joys of running. And his recounting of each of the characters he meets along his way is very thorough and a joy to read. His play by play account of his motley crew's journey down to the Copper Canyons in order to race the Tarahumara is one of the best pieces of sport journalism that I've read in a while.
The two weak points of the book are his constant wondering of why a company like Nike would rather make money than make consistently, good products. I am not sure where this mindset comes from, but know it is one that is shared by an eerily large portion of the American population. Companies are formed to make money. Yes, it would be nice in a perfect world that those said companies showed great ethics and put the consumer and the consumer's health first, but that would require two things: an informed consumer who demanded those things and a business that found it profitable to meet that consumer in the middle and neither of these show up much in the real world. Companies are formed to make money. End of story for better or worse. Companies that survive the test of time are those that are able to do so and on more occasions than not, put the customer first by making quality dependable products. And the second weak point is all of Chapter 28. It takes all of the theory of primitive man evolving into what it is now today to a whole new level. McDougall includes the chapter because it helps enforce his theory: mankind was built to run and running shoes have slowed us down and injured us. However, to me, this is a weak place to go. He could have used the data (real) and made a very strong case alone without going to several scientists and their theories that have no real scientific (observable, measurable, repeatable) proof and then using it as facts. I know this is used all the time, but this is not real science.
I really enjoyed reading this book and may reread it. It makes you really want to throw off your shoes and go running or in the least, it makes you want to lace up and run for hours. McDougall is a gifted writer because he makes even lab data a breeze to read. This book is given credit for the whole "barefoot running" craze which can now be seen all over the place with the Vibram Five Fingers and all the other "minimalist" shoes that every company is now coming out with. I am all for people getting out and running, but I hate to see people accept something hook, line, and sinker without really thinking about it. Mankind may have run barefoot a long time ago, but nothing in 2011 is like it was even 50 years ago. You rarely see people, even small kids, without shoes. Humanity as a whole is a lot bulkier than they were. Almost all jobs are sedentary now. The human body is not used to the strain and impact of running unshod especially in an urban setting, which most of us find ourselves in. So, within this "minimalist theory" there are many unforeseen areas for possible injuries.
I have now coached three seasons of cross country since this book has come out and have had multiple runners and their parents who have jumped head first in to this new running craze/theory/trend only to find themselves injured with knee aliments, bad cuts from running on concrete that has glass in it, and broken toes. I am all for trying to find new and healthier running options, but I always think caution should be shown before diving head first into an unproven theory.
My favorite portions of this book have to do with the idea of character and how running builds it. I have always felt this while running and while coaching. Accomplishing something as a runner seems to have a wondrous effect on an individual. Each runner, no matter the level or talent, has to dig from some unknown place to find the strength, zeal, endurance, etc to reach a new height. McDougall discusses this in great detail towards the latter part of the book as he learns from both the Tarahumara and from the examples of the likes of ultra-running legend Scott Jurek that running is about much more than winning races and besting world records. He even comes to the point of writing, "the reason we race isn't so much to beat each other, but to be with each other...it's easier to get outside yourself (perform outside of your perimeters) when you're thinking about someone else..." (pg 253). I feel this is so very true whether it is in running or in every other area of life.
Read the book. It is worth your time. Find an open grassy field, take your shoes off, and run like you did when you were a kid, but please watch for glass or roots.
David
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