Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

4.3 of 5 stars 4.30 · rating details · 43,497 ratings · 7,348 reviews

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows...more

Hardcover, 287 pages

Published May 5th 2009 by Knopf (first published 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Best Running (non-instructional) Books

1st out of 88 books — 238 voters

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Best Non-Fiction (non biography)

56th out of 2,110 books — 3,794 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 22, 2010 Lena rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, non-fiction

Let me begin this review by saying that I am not, and never have been, a runner. Despite that fact, I was surprisingly fascinated by Chrisopher McDougall's account of how his desire to run without pain started him on a quest that led him both deep into Mexico's remote Copper Canyons and human evolutionary past.

Born to Run begins as an adventure story. While trying to figure out how to get his own foot to stop hurting, he saw an article about a tribe of Mexican Indians called the Tarahumara. Thes...more

102 likes · like · see review

Apr 01, 2012 Books Ring Mah Bell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, sports

Truly, I cannot recall the last time I read a book that I loved as much as this.

Should you think this book is for serious runners alone, please think again. I am not by any means a runner. I ran track in high school, but the runs I did were short, sweet, sprints. After high school, I had a difficult time finding 200 yard dashes to race in, so I did a few 5k's... I didn't love them much at all. There was no way I was going to win a 5k, not ever. The distance just sucked. (In retrospect, some trai...more Truly, I cannot recall the last time I read a book that I loved as much as this.

Should you think this book is for serious runners alone, please think again. I am not by any means a runner. I ran track in high school, but the runs I did were short, sweet, sprints. After high school, I had a difficult time finding 200 yard dashes to race in, so I did a few 5k's... I didn't love them much at all. There was no way I was going to win a 5k, not ever. The distance just sucked. (In retrospect, some training may have helped.) I looked at most distance runners as mentally ill - something was wrong with those people. They were running from something, I decided, maybe from being fat, or being sad, maybe running from addictions or desires. Nuts. All of them. (Maybe I was just jealous of their slow twitch muscle fibers.) Most of the time I found the races to be miserable, and looking at most of the runners, it seemed they did too. Grimaces, frowns, bloody nipples, knee braces... yeah, FUN!

This book jogged my memory of those few times I did find running to be fun. One of those times was during a 5K called "Hair of the Frog", put on by a local brewery. It was early spring, it was cold, raining ice, There was thunder and lightning. I'm not sure if it was oxygen deprivation, or perhaps that amazing runner's high, but midway through the race, I was in nirvana. The trees around me looked beautiful encased in ice. I felt.... amazing. Alive. Primal. It did not matter that I was not going to win this race. (In fact, this race even had an award for finishing DFL, Dead F-ing Last.) It was then that I got it. I understood why some people really love to run. Had it not been for the pints of beer waiting at the finish line, I'm pretty sure I would have rerun the course with glee. Over time, I forgot about that sensation, busy with life, I rarely ran. I remember now.

Author Christopher McDougall writes about and participates in extreme adventure sports. He struggles with running injuries. The doctors suggest shots, orthotics, and offer the advice, "if it hurts, stop doing it.".

While in Mexico on an assignment, McDougall discovers the Tarahumara, an anthropological gem - a superhuman species, hidden deep in the formidable Sierra Madres. These people run extreme distances, and they run into old age, when the rest of the world resigns to rocking chairs. McDougall sets out to find these people, to discover how they run without injury, how they continue to run into old age. In the process, meets a man, Caballo Blanco, who wants to set up a race between these superhumans and the elite ultra runners of the United States.

There is so much more to this book than people running. This book talks about culture, society, obsession, science.

One of the most compelling parts of the book - the evidence presented that we are indeed born to run. One scientist points to the nuchal ligament on the back of our skulls, which fast moving animals have to keep the head in place while running. The topic of persistence hunting comes in to support the point and it is utterly fascinating. Running on two legs may not make us as fast as the quadripeds, but it does allow us to breathe more efficiently. And all these fabulous sweat glands we have? We can run longer without overheating, unlike the mammals not as well equipped with such a cooling system. we may not be fast enough to run down a deer in minutes, but after enduring for several miles, we can overtake the deer as it drops from overheating and exhaustion.

The cast of characters is simply amazing. I have already mentioned my thought that serious runners are a bit off in the head. The group of ultrarunners mentioned in the book may make the case for me. We meet Jenn and Billy, two surfer kids turned ultrarunners, that party all night to the point of puking, and get a few hours of sleep (by passing out) and rise, ready to go for a VERY long run. Jack Kirk, an elderly trail runner, is mentioned briefly, but was so fascinating I had to google him. ( http://runtrails.blogspot.com/2007/02... ) There's Barefoot Ted, running trails sans shoes (or if his feet need protection, he uses Vibram Five Fingers). And the mastermind behind the race, Caballo Blanco, a gringo who indeed was running from something.

This story is so, SO worth reading.
The only thing that could have improved the book... pictures.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a trail calling me to run.

Maybe I am a runner after all.(less)

29 likes · like · see review

Feb 02, 2012 Wesley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reading-challenge, solo_favorites

Where do you begin to tell how much a fantastic book means to you? This thing is amazing, plain and simple. If you are a fan of running, a runner, want to learn more about running or enjoy working out you have to read this book. Kind of like “it’s not about the bike” but for runners and no cancer, so incredible. This is the truth about running. Fantastically told. You will learn more about it within these pages than probably in history passed. I know I did. After I’ve finished this book, which...more

21 likes · like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars

With its excessive hyperbole, convenient omissions, misleading statistics, logical inconsistencies and plain old errors, I stopped thinking about this book as actual journalism after fifty pages. Trying to read it as a novel wasn't that satisfying either because the book reads like several magazine pieces glued together rather than one continuous work. The personality profiles of Jenn and Billy and the screed against running shoes felt particularly extraneous. However, the book has a fun core of...more

29 likes · like · see review

Aug 22, 2011 Jeanette rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultural-and-social-commentary, nonfiction, did-not-work-for-me, travel-adventure

Painful as it was, I stayed with this until slightly past the halfway mark. I kept hoping I might learn more about the Tarahumara people, but it was not to be. There's very little about the Tarahumara, and almost everything about a bunch of self-absorbed, obsessive long-distance runners. I have no patience with extreme athletes. They need to strive for some balance in their lives. The sport is not everything. I also got tired of the "gee golly wow ain't it all just lipsmackingly wild and amazing...more

28 likes · like · see review

Apr 19, 2011 Kwesi 章英狮 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: christopher-mcdougall, owned, 2011

I'm not born to be a runner, but God given us something to run. Since elementary or let me say since the day I was born, I'm not really into running. I'm weak physically but I can do things simple and I can play table tennis, more than that, I'm like a weakling of our generation. I always ask myself, what does it feels to be running in a field or grass and flowers or in a place where orange sand, cactus and animals that spits poison can be found? Reading books was like running, it was like lifti...more

13 likes · like · see review

Aug 21, 2012 Laura Avellaneda-Cruz rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was spellbound by this book, and it has made me a much better runner. I have a lot of good things to say about why I enjoyed this book and how it is useful, but being the critical social thought major, feminist anti-racist indigenist social worker I am, I also have to share what I didn't like. I'll do that first to get it out of the way so I can return to why I loved it.

Critique:
Christopher McDougall is an incredibly skillful and beautiful writer, but he has an arrogant voice in much of the b...more I was spellbound by this book, and it has made me a much better runner. I have a lot of good things to say about why I enjoyed this book and how it is useful, but being the critical social thought major, feminist anti-racist indigenist social worker I am, I also have to share what I didn't like. I'll do that first to get it out of the way so I can return to why I loved it.

Critique:
Christopher McDougall is an incredibly skillful and beautiful writer, but he has an arrogant voice in much of the book, or at least the first part. It reminded me of Kai (sp?) Risdahl from NPR's Marketplace, who always sounds far too sure of himself. Sort of cocky and masculine and white American in a very un-self aware way. The arrogance faded as McDougall talked more about other people and revealed his own vulnerabilities as a runner and as a man, but some of the voice issues continued to irk me along the way. It was the way he described every running woman with some variation of wispy blond hair streaming off her face and bright blue eyes and gorgeous face... It was the way he didn't talk about his own wife and daughter barely at all (I kept wondering--how does this guy manage to do all this and be a partner and dad? How does his wife feel about him risking his life? I wanted him to address these things as a woman probably would in her book). It was the way he occasionally made casual comments that othered the Tarahumara (or Rarámuri, as they call themselves in their language) people about whom he otherwise wrote with great respect. And I guess I wish he got to know more of the Rarámuri more closely to be able to describe them as the complex individual parents/sons/daughters/farmers/runners/community members they are, in the way that he described so intimately the self-obsessed individual American ultra marathoners and the (in my opinion, quite lovable) gringo-indio, Caballo Blanco. So, I'd love to sit down with McDougall and talk some about gender and race and then send him on his way. Because I love what he was able to do with this book and I love the way he wrote it, for the most part. So on to that.

Love:

I love that this is the first book about sports that I've been able to get through and actually care deeply about the final race scene and almost cheer and applaud when the race was won. (I am an athlete, but generally don't like reading about athletics because I find most discussions very one-track-minded. This book, however, wove athletics into a much larger narrative and kept me on the edge of seat.) I loved the way McDougall wove scientific and historical journalism in with storytelling back and forth, back and forth. I loved--and was profoundly impacted by--the way he used the stories of The Rarámuri runners and the American and International runners to explore the research on running shoes and how we've been fooled into spending lots of money to get more injuries. I've been running barefoot more and more often these days when I can find the right kind of trails, a sort of return to my childhood, with the hope that this will lessen the likelihood of injury. I loved how he described his own journey to run better and particularly the discussion on form--it has made me far more conscious of my form as I run, and I notice that I too feel lighter and quicker and hurt less as a result. I loved especially how he tied what seems kind of ridiculous--marathon and ultra-marathon running--into a basic need for survival, making the argument, through anthropology and biology and history, that humans evolved to run long distances, to run down and tire out our prey. I love this. This idea in itself rejuvenates me as a runner, as did the engrossing story of the great race in the Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon) of Northern México and all of the stories he shared of the races and runners that made the race possible.

I should also note that I read this book as a runner, as someone who works with and for indigenous people, and as someone who was trying to make sense of her experience in las Barrancas del Cobre back in 2002. I was 20 years old and studying Spanish. My parents and sister and I went on a trip to las Barrancas. At the little modest lodge we stayed, they asked a local Rarámuri man named José to guide us on a hike. He took us (cold weather Alaskan athletes) on an 18 mile hike up and down mountains and through farms and yards and mud shacks and corn fields and mountain trails and past one abandoned cave dwelling in the heat of summer. We were hot and exhausted. He was not in the least bit phased. He was wearing cowboy boots and jeans, which, I didn't realize until I read Born to Run, I guess made him quite the assimilated Rarámuri man. I kept returning to those memories as I read this book, trying to piece together my brief experience with what McDougall describes, and with the reality of what narcotraficantes have done to the Barrancas since then. I didn't come out with clear answers, but McDougall's description of the history of the Rarámuri/Tarahumara people and of las Barrancas, and the ways he told his own stories of traveling there and of the race there, did help me make sense of it.

In addition to worrying about the narcos and the Tarahuma, there is one thing that is left unsettled for me: I am worried about Jenn, "la brujita," the young party girl utramarathoner from Virginia Beach. I am worried about her drinking and the danger she is in. I came to like her and worry about her, and wonder if McDougall worried too but didn't write it in the book, or didn't notice how unhealthy she was. Will have to research that one on my own. (less)

9 likes · like · see review

Nov 26, 2012 Andy Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars

My only complaint was that the book was too short, or that it was so interesting and well written that I read it too fast or that I liked the characters so much that I wanted to go out for a run and have a beer with them

Book is written by a runner whose legs are beat up and told he shouldn't run anymore. He researchs alternatives and learns about the Tahahumara Indians who live in the remote and inaccessible copper canyon in Mexico.

One of my favorite chapters was about the year a few of the Taha...more

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 13, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this as an audiobook on a long road trip about two years ago, and found myself skipping gas stops and bathroom breaks because I was too interested in what happened next. McDougall tells a riveting story about runners and running that manages to also be a sort of ethnography and treatise on one specific, but significant, circuit of human evolution. A lot of the runners McDougall writes about seem crazy to me, but they are a kind of committed, overachieving crazy, and that makes for...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2011 Lea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011, acquired-2011, favorites, reviews

So I picked this book up, thinking it would be a cool story about this lost tribe of distance runners -- which it was -- but I got soooo much more than I bargained for.

Yes, I did learn about the Tarahumara tribe, but I also learned about the biomechanics of running and how shoe manufacturers disregard runner safety in preference of turning a profit, ultramarathons and the hardcore runners who participate in them, the lawless culture of Copper Canyon, the nearly lost techniques of persistence hun...more

41 likes · like · see review

Jul 14, 2012 Debora Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, informational, kindle, biography-author

Born to Run is not just the story of an elusive Mexican tribe. It's the story of one man's search for answers that no doctors could provide. He wanted to know why running ruined his feet and was so hard on the rest of his body. He found an answer that encompassed many individual stories, physics, human evolution, and the soul of mankind. Words cannot describe how interesting and moving this book was. I loved it so much that I read portions out loud to my family. As someone who subscribes to the...more

1 like · like · see review

May 27, 2013 Toms rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Dzimuši lai skrietu" - amerikāņu sporta žurnālista Kristofera Makdugala sarakstīta grāmata par viņa pieredzi saistībā ar skriešanu un atgadījumu, kas pārvērta viņa skatījumu uz daudzām lietām, kas ikdienā paliek neievērotas. Darbs rakstīts prozas mākslinieciskā apraksta veidā. Tēma ir cilvēka gribasspēka, neatlaidības, ticības varenums, kas mūsdienās cilvēkiem ir tik ļoti nepieciešams, tāpēc tēma ir aktuāla. Notikumi grāmatā pārsvarā norisinās Meksikā, kādā tuksnešainā kanjonā, kur dzīvo noslēp...more "Dzimuši lai skrietu" - amerikāņu sporta žurnālista Kristofera Makdugala sarakstīta grāmata par viņa pieredzi saistībā ar skriešanu un atgadījumu, kas pārvērta viņa skatījumu uz daudzām lietām, kas ikdienā paliek neievērotas. Darbs rakstīts prozas mākslinieciskā apraksta veidā. Tēma ir cilvēka gribasspēka, neatlaidības, ticības varenums, kas mūsdienās cilvēkiem ir tik ļoti nepieciešams, tāpēc tēma ir aktuāla. Notikumi grāmatā pārsvarā norisinās Meksikā, kādā tuksnešainā kanjonā, kur dzīvo noslēpumaina skējēju cilts - taraumaras.
Savus meklējumus autors uzsāk pavisam vienkārša iemesla dēļ - viņam skrienot neizturami sāp kāja, bet kāpēc tā ir, to nezina ne viņš , ne ārsti.Viņam iesaka pārstāt nodarboties ar skriešanu, jo tas traumējot kāju un vienā brīdī viņa traumētā cīpsla varot pārplīst, vispār liedzot normāli pārvietoties. Cilvēks neesot radīts skriešanai, un visiem, kas nodarbojas ar šo sporta veidu agrāk vai vēlāk parādoties traumas, kas iegūtas pastāvīgās slodzes rezultātā, triecot pēdu pret zemi.
Tad, vīlies mūsdienu medicīnā, viņš nolemj meklēt alternatīvas iespējas un uzzin par noslēpumainu klejotāju cilti, sauktiem par Taraumarām, kas mitinās nepieejamā kanjonā tuksneša vidū, kaut kur Teksasas vidienē. Šī cilts ir zināma kā dižākie ultramaratonskrējēji pasaulē. Skrienot dienām un naktīm pa nelīdzenām kalnu takām viņi ir spējīgi noskriet kā sacīkšu zirgu, tā gepardu un olimpisko maratonistu. Makdugals nolemj uzzināt cilts noslēpumu, kuras vienīgā redzamā motivācija ir kustību prieks un vēlme skriet.
Stāsta gaitā autors apraksta gan dižākos ultramaratonistus vēsturē, gan ikdienu, dzīvojot starp dižākajiem, bet reizē arī visnepazīstamākajiem ultramaratonistiem pasaulē. Beigās viņam izdodas ne tikai izārstēt savu kāju, bet arī atklāt superatlētu sevī un noskriet savā mūžā pirmo ultramaratonu, kopā ar taraumarām, tuksneša svelmē.
Galvenie tēli raksturoti iedvesmojoši, mērķtiecīgi, fanātiski, lai gan dažreiz nedaudz dīvaini, ar savādiem ieradumiem.
Valodas stils darbā ir diezgan piezemēts, nav daudz mākslinieciskās izteiksmes līdzekļu. Autors raksta vienkārši, neizmantojot sarežģītus terminus un valodu. Bieži izmantota sarunvaloda un īpatnēji vārdi, kā arī izteicieni meksikāņu valodā, lai pilnīgāk atspoguļotu konkrētās situācijas noskaņu un tēlu sajūtas.
Šo darbu varētu pieskaitīt modernisma virzienam, jo autoram ir svarīgs reālais cilvēks ar visām savām vājībām, kaislībām un alkām, nevis kāds idealizēts varonis, kā, piemēram, romantismā. Vēl raksturīga romantisma pazīme Makdugala grāmatā - tiek akcentēts uzskats, ka tikai iepazīstot sevi, cilvēks var iepazīt dzīvi.
Manuprāt, šis darbs lasītāju aizrauj un ieinteresē jau no pirmajām tā lappusēm, kā arī atstāj pamatīgu pozitīvu un iedvesmojošu ietekmi, jo rodas vēlme darboties, saniegt savus mērķus un piepildīt sapņus.
Noteikti ieteiktu izlasīt šo grāmatu visiem, kurus saista piedzīvojumi, un neparastais, fascinējošais mums apkārt. Grāmata atstāj spēcīgu pozitīvu ietekmi uz iztēli, aicina domāt plašāk, būt zinātkāram un aizrautīgam.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

May 21, 2012 Miranda (M.E.) Brumbaugh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, books-read-2012, favorite-reads, biographical

I wanted to read this book for the cultural aspects of the pre-Hispanic Mexicans and to learn about the crazy people who participate in ultramarathons. I walked away from it with an appreciation for Christopher McDougall as a wonderful and creative writer, as well as a lot more information regarding the social and medical history of humans as runners. What an inspirational and well written book!! Two of the most impressive things I've learned from this book:

1. Watching my son run is the best way...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: Jenn's Gift

Shelves: biography, history, non-fiction, science, travel, 2012-around-the-world

This turned out to be an awesome book, and I didn't think it would be in the first 50 pages. I thought this was heading to some mystical hippie BS, given the beginning makes it sound like this "Stone Age" tribe had superpowers and the author was in search of this mysterious "gringo indio" in Mexico's Copper Canyons known as the "Caballo Blanco." I should have known better given it was the Christmas gift of my favorite science geek. (Thanks Jenn!) The subtitle calls it the story of a "hidden trib...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2013 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Heidi by: Des

Fascinating story that started when the author, a would-be race runner, went to a doctor and asked why his foot hurt. The doctors and specialists recommended more expensive running shoes, physical therapy, orthotics, stretching, and also suggested that he might not be able to run again, ever. Curious, McDougall started researching why our ancestors were able to run frequently and reliably without all the special gear.

His research led him to the Tarahumara tribe, deep within the drug-lord-investe...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2010 Annie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Annie by: Katherine Lowe

Shelves: non-fiction, book-club

I have reached a point in my life where I can say that I actually like running. Some days, I even LOVE it. This book is filled with colorful characters, races, and topics surrounding this activity. A journalist begins running and is plagued with some running injuries. After being told by two sports medicine doctors that his best option would be to quit, Christopher McDougall stubbornly chooses another path. He tries to find the Tarahumura, a super-secret hidden tribe in the Copper Canyons of Mex...more I have reached a point in my life where I can say that I actually like running. Some days, I even LOVE it. This book is filled with colorful characters, races, and topics surrounding this activity. A journalist begins running and is plagued with some running injuries. After being told by two sports medicine doctors that his best option would be to quit, Christopher McDougall stubbornly chooses another path. He tries to find the Tarahumura, a super-secret hidden tribe in the Copper Canyons of Mexico, who are so skilled at running they sometimes run for three days straight just for fun. The Tarahumara also don't wear anything close to resembling our modern day technological running shoes. Yet, the incidence of running injuries is incredibly low. As McDougall discovers there are a few people who run like the Tarahumara run in the US. Soon, with the help of Caballo Blanco, a white man living among the Tarahumara, the author finds himself involved in one of the most intense races between the ultra runners of the world on an incredibly difficult course. The book had a lot of interesting information. McDougall makes a case for barefoot running and argues that the modern shoe causes a lot of problems for runners. I liked reading about the different races and couldn't believe how intense some of them were. Guess I can't really complain about running 3 miles when people run 100 miles in the Death Valley heat. Amazing. I didn't like how unorganized the book was. I felt the author jumped around so much, introduced some pointless characters and delved into side topics (like arguing we evolved into the humans we are and survived because of running) that took away from the thrill of the story and just made it a choppy read. Overall, though, it was interesting and I spent time looking stuff up on the internet because of the book. Anytime a desire is created for more information by a book's topic, I'd say it was a good read. Who knows-I might even try out barefoot running up and down my driveway. (less)

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 14, 2010 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: running

A compelling read, brilliant story and fascinating subject matter, but somehow falls short of being a great book.

I'm not sure where it goes wrong exactly, but for me it might have been the number of characters which I struggled to keep track of, the slightly preachy tone of the anti-shoe chapters (persuasive though they are) or the negative coverage of apparently less worthy ultra runners who dared to accept sponsorship or promote their own books. None of these, or other faults, completely spoil...more

11 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2012 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Rob by: Amy

Shelves: own, 2010, evolution, running

Every other review of this book that you read will sum this up pretty well: that this book is a briskly-paced, well-executed tale of running, of a "secret tribe" in Mexico that has basically made an art of ultra-running, of the people world-wide that are truly passionate about putting their bodies into motion and not stopping for hundreds of miles. Also, that your fancy shoes are the reason you're getting plantar fasciitis.

So if you want the details on all that, and if you want to get pumped up...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 27, 2012 Scott Bischke rated it 5 of 5 stars

OK, truth is this is just a super inspiring book, perhaps the most inspiring book I have read in years! How many books really impact you for more than a short time? I am on a new diet, running long (for me!) distances again, thinking about shoes and running pace and being vegetarian again and...well you get what I'm saying. All that because of McDougall's beautiful told story of the Tarahumara Indians, Scott Jurcek, and ultra running in general (oh, and also because a tandem read of Jurcek's EAT...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 11, 2012 Bonnie Fazio rated it 5 of 5 stars

My son and DIL gave me this book for my birthday. I'm not a runner (heck, I'm a slug), but we'd discussed it and he discerned my interest.

Turns out it's a great read. The main character (it's nonfiction, so that may not be the right designation) later said he disagreed with some of the stuff McDougall wrote -- but what's new? People always want to edit what's written about them. Journalism and creative non-fiction aren't perfect, but I think this book captured the essence of Micah True (Caballo...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Krista rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I absolutely loved this book! I am not a runner; in fact, I have always HATED running. But this is more than a story about running. It is a story about Caballo Blanco, El Oso, El Coyote, El Lobo Joven, El Gavilan, La Bujita Bonita, and El Venado. While the author, Christopher McDougall, delves into the history of running and why our bodies are born to run, there is so much story telling of colorful events and individuals, that the history and science becomes so integral to the story that it's ac...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 30, 2012 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sports-and-outdoors

Intense and hyperbolic. Kind of exhausting just to read and I swear I got a hangover reading about Jen the lifeguard. The manic crash-and-burn chaos of it makes me think the title should be "Run or Die" rather than "Born to Run". Fun to read about endurance athletes and what kind of person becomes one. Inspiring, yes. Hopefully it inspires me to run a little farther with creativity and a bit of fearlessness rather than to dump everything except my sports bra and shorts, become a functional drunk...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 09, 2010 Christinepeterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this book. Great combination of narrative about a grueling desert footrace and revelation about the science of running. Might just inspire me to get out there and pound some pavement again! Narrative is not as tight as Into Thin Air, but had a similar feel to me.

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 14, 2012 April rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, non-fiction, library

I used to be the type of person who said I only run if being chased. I never got into exercising and working out until college. Anyways, to cut to the chase, I’ve been working on Couch To 5K- taking a long break when my knees hurt just to walk. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall entered my vision at about this time and I promptly put the audiobook on hold at my library.
Read the rest of my review here

1 like · like · see review

Jul 11, 2010 Brooke rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was so awesome that it almost made me want look at running as something other than torture, and then once I could do that, to start running for fun. Almost.

There are a lot of derails (or seeming derails) in this book. So the continuity of the story gets lost semi-regularly. However, the derails are always interesting material, and almost always tie back into the overarching story really well in the end.

7 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2011 April rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

A fast, easy read. Inspiring in so many ways. Having conquered 13.1, it is still nearly impossible for me to grasp the concept of running 50 or 100 miles in.a.row. Without dying.

Interesting tidbits about the history of Nike, marketing of running shoes, and industrialization (especially the effect of modernization on the often elusive Tarahumara Indians). The author set out to discover why his foot was bothering him and why, despite the fact that running has existed for centuries, running injurie...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 07, 2013 Lisa Houlihan added it

Shelves: nf, hist-soci-cultstud, audio, male

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall. I��m glad I listened to it: it��s not the kind of thing I would have chosen to read. Like I care about footracing, I might have said in dismissal. But then I would have missed learning something about a fascinating tribe, the Tarahumara, and about some intriguing ideas about human evolution. I already knew we are one of the only animals that sweat (or the only ones. I know that...more Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall. I��m glad I listened to it: it��s not the kind of thing I would have chosen to read. Like I care about footracing, I might have said in dismissal. But then I would have missed learning something about a fascinating tribe, the Tarahumara, and about some intriguing ideas about human evolution. I already knew we are one of the only animals that sweat (or the only ones. I know that we and pigs are the only ones to sunburn.) I didn��t know we are the only animal that can breathe out of step with our steps, literally.

Cheetahs, rabbits, horses, deer, wolves, all coordinate their breathing with their movement. Consider the sinuous stretch and curl in a cheetah��s body as it runs: it inhales as it stretches out and the stretching pulls air into the lungs, and it exhales as the hind paws strike, so that the forward thrust of the hindquarters (legs and guts both) shoves air out. The guts aren��t connected and can slosh about that much. (I learned in seventh grade science that an animal��s, or at least a horse��s, guts aren��t stabilized with connective tissue. We can roll down a hill without injury, but a horse rolling will get its guts in a knot.)

Evolutionary biologists here and there speculate that we went bipedal to run better. We lost upper body strength and grew a nuchal ligament (which no other great ape has) to support the big head, whose fat-sucking brain could grow ever larger with the quantity of meat we could acquire by running.

That��s where McDougall lost me. Going bipedal to run better, that makes sense to me. That humans regularly hunted on foot, running an animal to exhaustion, that I don��t accept as readily. That��s a hell of an energy suck even if you do run as efficiently as a Tarahumara. We went bipedal several hundred thousand years before the oldest stone spear point (200,000 years), so maybe. Or maybe we used wooden spears.(less)

like · see review

Apr 08, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars

I ran track and field and cross-country in high school and college. I wish I had had this information back then. Inspiring story about man's inherent capacity to run long distances. McDougall argues, quite convincingly, that man's physiology uniquely qualifies us as the long distance running animal.

The main plot revolves around the Tarahumara, a Mexican tribe whose people are outstanding distance runners. McDougall explores the reasons behind this as we follow a fascinating character, Caballo Bl...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 Ana Rusness-petersen added it

Amazing book! Insightful, interesting, full of information and easy to read and get engrossed in. Reading about the author's own journey into running that was woven throughout the narrative of Caballo, the Tarahumarians, and the ultra-marathoners was encouraging to beginning runners such as myself. There were several references to running that I wouldn't have fully appreciated a year or so ago, before I started running, which completely echo why I run and how I approach running. It was awesome t...more

like · see review

May 30, 2013 Scooping it Up rated it 5 of 5 stars

As an adult I've always claimed I am no runner. I have terrible knees from a skiing accident (my one and only time skiing.) After that accident, despite years of physical therapy, I've had pain when I push running. Plus I don't enjoy it that much, or at least, that is what I've told myself. But the thing is, I used to be a great runner as a kid, I was even on a few track teams. I've always been mad that as a grown up, even if I wanted to run, pain kept me from it.

Since the knee-debacle I've said...more

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Lloyd 2012: point of view	1	3	May 19, 2013 07:20pm
lululemon athleti...: Romance & Running	1	2	May 19, 2013 08:04am
Running feels great!	5	30	May 11, 2013 08:09am
lululemon athleti...: Fear & Pleasure	2	4	May 06, 2013 06:14am
Lloyd 2012: Provoking	1	3	May 05, 2013 08:15pm
Lloyd 2012: dialog	1	4	Apr 28, 2013 06:49pm
Lloyd 2012: inference	1	2	Apr 21, 2013 07:36pm

combine
Other Editions (35)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

1,183 users

Sports And Games > Sports

299 users

Health

123 users

Sports > Fitness

98 users

Book Club

90 users

Adventure

76 users

Science

70 users

Travel

67 users

Autobiography > Memoir

60 users

Biography

56 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Christopher McDougall

Christopher McDougall is an American author and journalist best known for his 2009 best-selling book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. He has also written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men's Journal, and New York, and was a contributing editor for Men's Health.

McDougall is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University. He spent...more

More about Christopher McDougall...

Books by Christopher McDougall

Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Secret Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World

The Cool Impossible: The Coach from "Born to Run" Shows How to Get the Most from Your Miles-And From Yourself

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Born to Run: A Hi...

4 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Born to Run: A Hidden ...

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” — 140 people liked it

“You don't stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.” — 71 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
avg rating	preview: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen Goodreads rating: 4.30 (43497 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6289283-born-to-run?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320531983l/6289283.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6289283-born-to-run?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall[/url]

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website