This was another book that took an inordinately long time to finish once I turned Sara on to it and we could only listen to it together. And so it seems a bit disjointed in retrospect.
And, let's face it, McDougall is prably full of shit in a lot of his conclusions. He happily pushes the concept of barefoot or minimalist running with an emphassis on how modern running shoes are ruining the experience of running--and our bodies--by overprotecting our feet. He did get me to research the topic, and I'm considering incorporating some minimalist running into my training, but he projects the attitude of a true believer, especially in his diatribes toward Nike, and comes off a bit over the top. But at the same time, McDougall is a good story teller. He was over the top again in his descriptions of the dangers of going into the Copper Canyon for the first time--why did he keep returning if it was so dangerous, and why didn't Jim and Susan mention how dangerous it was when they went backpacking there with Clay and Shirena?
The book took off for me when McDougall described the birth of the Leadville 100 and the Western States 100 and of many of the personalities involved in ultraendurance running. The introduction of the Tarahuamara at Leadville is the center of this sectin of the book, and he makes note of the idea that they were essentially exploited thge first couple of years that they ran, albeit with many benefits for the tribe, and that they do not come to the ultraruns in the US anymore. Among the more memorable personalities he describes are the woman runner from the bay area who won many of the ultraraces in the 90's, Scott Jurek, who plays a central role in the climatic race in the book, Barefoot Ted, la brujita Jen and her surfer boyfriend Billy. Perhaps even more memorable for me was the section of the book on Dr. Joe Vigil and his seeking a link between character and running while observing the Tarahumara. The central character of the book, of course, is El Caballo Blanco, who, it turns out, is a Boulderite who lives among the Tarahuamara in the Copper Canyon for months on end. It's the discovery of him in the Copper Canyon that opens the book, and his personal history after the great race that ends the book.
Really it is the joy of running that animates the book. Although it is not apparent at the beginning, when McDougall is looking for cures from his running injuries and is told time and again how bad running is for his body, the book highlights the central role that running holds for the development of humans--it is central to the survival of homo sapiens--and how it has gone "bad" under the influence of the corporate development of the modern running shoe. Our natural leg motion is overcontrolled by the technology of the shoe. The closer that we come to running barefoot, the sooner that we return to a more natural running stride--much shorter stride, higher leg cadence, with a midfoot strike--and the more that we can enjoy injury free running, and the sooner that we can experience many of the almost spiritual benefits of running. It certainly has a strong appeal, but whether or not it matches up to reality or not is a whole different story.
Author: McDougall, Christopher
Date Published: 2009
Length: 11 hr 27 min
Narrator: Sanders, Fred
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