When a friend recommended I read Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall, I dismissed her suggestion right away. After she read it, she wanted to register to compete in an ultra marathon (31 or 62 miles). No way did an endurance run interest me! I like to run a few miles here and there on flat, comfortable surfaces – not vast distances on mountain trails and through deserts.
The book, which I did finally read several months after avoiding it, surprised me. It was the story of a runner but so much more. Adventure, fascinating characters, sports shoe science, human anatomy, history, anthropology, and suspense were all wrapped up in this unusual book.
This easy-to-read memoir takes the reader on a journey to Copper Canyon in Mexico to see how a tribe of super athletes are able to run ridiculous distances in hot weather, for fun. These people don’t have $150 high-tech running shoes or moisture-wicking clothing. They don’t use heart monitors and don’t have iPods plugged into their ears. But yet they run and run and amazingly enjoy themselves while doing it.
Inspiration and knowledge are what I gained from reading Born to Run (though I still have no plans for a long-distance run). I laughed out loud at some parts of this book and gasped in horror at others – it was a great, hard-to-put down read!
Several copies of this book (and also an audio book version) can be found in our library system.
JJ
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