Book Review : Born to Run

This book was referred by Rajesh, an accomplished long distance runner himself in our Fremont running group. I picked up this book to pass my time recently while on my way to Birmingham, Alabama, a long flight from San Francisco during one of my business trip.

I have never read such a book earlier and may not have picked up for reading ever, had it not been for my new found interest in running. In “Born to Run”, Christopher McDougall, an avid runner who had been vexed by injuries, explores the world of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, a tribe known for running extraordinary distances in nothing but thin-soled sandals. Mr. McDougall makes the case that running isn’t inherently risky. Instead, he argues that the commercialization of urban marathons encourages overzealous training, while the promotion of high-tech shoes has led to poor running form and a rash of injuries.

This book traces the running habit of Tarahumara Indians in Copper Canyon, Mexico who are ultra and elite long distance runner. They run either barefoot or with some kind of very thin leather sandals and have a peculiar traditional dressing. Very few people know about this tribe and the way they live deep down in canyon makes them almost invisible to modern society. The members of these tribes prefer to live in oblivion and far away from the civilized world. They have a world of their own and they fiercely protect it from outsiders.

The author tries to find out what makes these people so efficient ultra distance runners. Sometimes they run for couple of days that make modern ultra distance running quite ordinary, forget the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The author outlines their living and eating habits and also talks about a liquid that they drink that makes them run afresh let’s say, after a grueling 50 miles run. The author also describes how the elders train the kids into running long distance that makes this book a very fascinating read.

The author then goes on to explain in great detail the effort put in by a person called Caballo to organize a race between people of Tarahumara Indians tribe and modern ultra distance runners from US. Caballo first spends 4-5 years with this tribe and himself becomes a very accomplished long distance runner. He is referred in the book as “White Horse”. The story also builds up on sneaking two such Tarahumara Indian runners in the toughest 50 miles run in US in Colarado Badlands. After seeing the ease with which these runners from Tarahumara Indian runners ran this 50 miles race, Caballo was sure that it would be a great moment to organize a race to directly pitch these runners with modern and the best ultra distance runners in US.

In between, the author, Christopher McDougall also scientifically explained that man has evolved because of its innate ability to run. The author argues that there is no animal in the world that could defeat man in long distance running and especially running in heat. The author goes on to explain that while animals like Cheetah, antelopes and other animals can outpace humans in short distance running but if you theoretically imagine a 25 or 30 miles long road then all these so called extremely fast running animals will not be able to beat human runners.

Most mammals can sprint faster than humans — having four legs gives them the advantage. But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. This premise is based on the simple scientific fact that human body have millions of sweat glands through which the body cools down while running but animals like leopard can only cool-off through their tongue. After a while, the heat inside the animal body becomes more than the tongue can exchange. This is the time when the animal has to stop running or it will die and that’s the time when a human can outrun such animal. The author in fact goes to Bushmen tribe in Africa that still kills animals by just running them down by a fascinating process of team work and tracing the mark of the individual animal. This was one of the best part of the book.

The logic and the description of the author about how man kind evolved through Homo Erectus (Hopo Sapiens) primarily by their ability to run over Neanderthals is very compelling argument. The author went on to scientifically explain why we have a straight body (which helps to avoid taking in large sun lights while running), head over the shoulder and how we outsmarted other species in this evolution game by simply having the ability to run. Springlike ligaments and tendons in the feet and legs are crucial for running. (Our close relatives the chimpanzee and the ape don’t have them.) A narrow waist and a midsection that can turn allow us to swing our arms and prevent us from zigzagging on the trail. Humans also have a far more developed sense of balance, an advantage that keeps the head stable as we run. And most humans can store about 20 miles’ worth of glycogen in their muscles. The gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body, is primarily engaged only during running. There are so many features in our bodies from our heads to our toes that make us good at running.”

Finally the author describes the race deep in the copper canyons of Mexico where people of the Tarahumara Indians almost lives oblivious to the modern world. The rim of copper canyon in Mexico is quite dangerous with drug lords of Mexico making their base. The author treads an extremely dangerous trek with other ultra disctance runners to the start point of the race and describes in great detail the work of Cabalo to organize the ultimate race between the casual Tamaharoo runners and the best and the fittest modern ultra distance runners.

I will not say as to who won the race billed as the toughest race ever run in human history as that will kill the soul of the book but suffice is to say that I could not stop myself reading the entire 275 odd pages from the moment I began reading the book. It gave me some more interesting insight into some of the facets about running that I was a bit skeptical about in the beginning and to some lesser extent till now. It absolutely helped me to reinforce my belief in running that it helps reduce stress, increase focus, elevates mood, brings joy and above all after reading this book that by running I might be unconsciously adding to the evolution of mankind. I will recommend this book to anyone who has even a slight interest in running. This book will do wonders to positively reinforce the joy of long distance running.