Born to Run

The astonishing national bestseller and hugely entertaining story that completely changed the way we run.

An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt?

Isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Christopher McDougall: Are We Born to Run?

Christopher McDougall explores the mysteries of the human desire to run. How did running help early humans survive – and what urges from our ancient ancestors spur us on today?

Born to Run Quotes

“In 1971, an American physiologist trekked intro the Copper Canyons and was so blown away by Tarahumara athleticism that he had to reach back twenty-eight hundred years for a suitable scale to rank it on. Probably not since the days of the ancient Spartans has a people achieved such a high state of physical conditioning.”

“You don’t stop running because you get old, you get old because you stop running.”

“If you don’t have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain’t getting them.”

“There’s something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we’re scared, we run when we’re ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.”