Born to Run by Christopher McDougall - Book Review

There are few books that make me go out and change something in my life, Born to Run is one of them. When I finished the book, I took up running again after a bit of a pause. More importantly, I stopped thinking of running as a necessary chore and began finding a way to love running. I am grateful for that.

This books starts off with two questions: How come some people can run 100 mile races (which should destroy their knees and tendons) and be fine? How come some native people can run around barefoot or in flimsy sandals and not have injuries while everyone (or around 80% of people) running in their engineered shoes seems to get injured each year?

In answering those question, author and journalist Christopher McDougall heads to the Copper Canyons in Mexico to locate an ancient tribe of super-runners. He then compares the knowledge he has gained there with experts in the U.S. on running and evolution including first class running coaches, ultra-marathoners and experts on human motion and evolution.

During the course of asking questions and learning, he helps to organize a 50 mile race between the best ultra-marathoners in the U.S. and members of the ancient tribe.

The resulting book tells the stories of some of the runners, the author's own story in overcoming running injuries through barefoot running and the story of a great race.

Read this book if you want to be inspired to discover the joy of running. This book made me dust of my minimal running shoes (Nike Frees)and want to become a true "runner."