Born to Run by Christopher McDougall an Awesome Book that happens to also be about running

February 3rd, 2010

Late last night, I finally finished the book, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I could have easily stayed up and read the book in one shot, but I had to work and get some sleep and things.

The book rocked! It was like reading an Indiana Jones adventure novel mixed with a James Redfield quest searching for spirituality combined with a mystery and investigation into the science of the foot, the human body and , oh yeah, running.

For the last 5 months since I started running in Vibram Five Finger Toe Shoes, people keep asking me, “Have You read Born to Run?”

They have this weird creepy gleam in their eye, typically. I always said, “No.” I kept thinking that they were caught up in some concept that was borderline fad or hype or something. I run in vibrams because they work, and I like it, and it is helping to make running both enjoyable and possibly make me into something of a serious writer for the first time.

I don’t really have any room in my life for hype or fads or whatever. Form rarely supercedes function for me.

So I mistakenly stayed away from the book. It sounded like as self help guru type of book, and I just wasn’t interested.

Well, I finally had some spare time and decided to listen to the audio book version of the book.

Within about 30 minutes I was completely hooked. Christopher McDougall is an excellent story teller above all else. Even if he was talking about a trip to the 7 & 11 to buy garbage bags in the middle of the night, I suspect he could tell a great yarn.

This book contains a great big amazing story, filled with lots of little amazing stories throughout, plus a bit of fact and science and hard investigative reporter like research too.

in fact, I suspect that this book might be one of the better books that I will read this year in 2010. Even if you are not a runner, I think you can enjoy this great story, the adventure, the jokes, the crazy situations and more.

Sure, McDougall might trick you into learning something, and DISCLOSURE/PLOT SPOILER there are a couple mentions of running barefoot and vibram toe shoes, but this book is NOT about TOE SHOES NOR barefoot running.

You might learn how to hunt antellope with your bare hands, you might learn about some of the newer theories of evolution, you might even learn about some extreme sports that you have never heard of, but above everything else, this book will entertain you very much.

If it doesn’t then leave me a nasty comment and I will apologize and wonder just what flavor of aum you were dosed with.

Life Changing Book?

Within the last few months, I have had possibly three experiences now that might serve to change my life in a positive way:

The Beatles Love Show in Las Vegas
Love is the Killer App, a book by Tim Sanders, and
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

James Redfield might even wink at me as they all ‘coincidentally’ share a similar theme either as a significant element in the composition or as the fundamental basis for the theory of the work.

Love

Screw New Years Resolutions, I’ve just red or expereinced 3 different things that have inspired me. I don’t need a hollow promise when I can run forward with inspiration.

Here’s some relevant videos, but don’t let the videos fool you into thinking that the book might be boring.