Born to Run

Christopher McDougall

May 2009 · Sold by Vintage

About this eBook

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!

Ratings and reviews

This book reads like an adventure novel. Exciting, suspenseful, and at the same time inspiring and educational. If you are a runner, you will want to run faster and farther. If you aren't a runner, you will find an enjoyable tale, a fascinating glimpse into a secluded society, and possibly the desire to give running a try. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it's staying in my library rather than getting circulated into the book swap.

It is a great read even for those who are not especially into running. I read it because I was interested in human capabilities in general, why they do what they do and what else are they capable of. This book gave me some answers and things to think about. Although, sometimes I wanted to skip a page or two only because of many biographical details of the runners, the book kept my interest til the end.

This is a fascinating read and should be on everyone's list—disregard the "running" vibe it puts off. The first half is a little tough to get through as he covers the history of the Tarahumara tribe and it seems irrelevant, but the second half is where this book really shines and brings everything together. Seriously, read it!

About the author

CHRISTOPHER McDOUGALL is the author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen and Natural Born Heroes: Mastering the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance.  He began his career as an overseas correspondent for the Associated Press, covering wars in Rwanda and Angola. He now lives and writes (and runs, swims, climbs, and bear-crawls) among the Amish farms around his home in rural Pennsylvania.