Very interesting book. It makes me want to toss my running shoes and run barefoot through the grass behind our house. I enjoyed McDougall's writing (despite some language). He has a great vocabulary that carries the story along. Some of my favorite techniques are when he gets you going along on an idea, nodding your head "yes" and then he says, "Nope. It didn't work out that way." He caught me several times this way. I could have done without chapter 28 (and skipped most of it). I enjoyed his allusions to children's literature (From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and Pippi Longstocking).

I loved p. 204 where he described an athlete with muscular dystrophy and his strategies for overcoming things that held him back. "In basketball Ken couldn't drive the lane, so he practiced three-pointers and a deadly hook shot. He couldn't chase a quarterback or shake a safety, but he studied body angles and lines of attack and became a formidable left tackle. He couldn't out spring a cross-court volley, so in tennis he developed a ferocious serve and service return. "If I couldn't outrun you, I'd outthink you," he says. "I'd find your weakness and make it my strength."

On one of my backpacking trips, we witnessed the first place runner coming through the woods at about mile 25. It was definitely inspiring.

McDougal introduced us to quite the cadre of characters in the book. I guess one must be a bit of a character to want to run long distances like that.