Agnė's Reviews > Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

3.5 out of 5

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen is a captivating and inspiring journalistic quest that features a cast of memorable characters and spans human evolution, history of ultra running, and a search for a reclusive tribe of Tarahumara Indians that are known as the world's greatest distance runners.

Although Christopher McDougall's writing style is entertaining, I was surprised by the lack of actual science and references. I would hope that, in addition to firsthand experience, the book is based on hours upon hours of interviews and research, but honestly, I can't be sure due to the absence of bibliography or any kind of footnotes. In fact, Born to Run reads like a book-long magazine article: catchy, dramatic, mostly anecdotal, and rather opinionated.

To be honest, I found Christopher McDougall's storytelling style - the main storyline interrupted by a digression after digression - a bit annoying. By the time the side story is over, I've lost track of or interest in the original story.

What is more, the author's ability to know what each character thought or felt in any given moment seems rather suspicious, especially given the lack of references. Did he actually interview all these people or simply made the details of their experiences up?

Since I just finished Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, I have a better understanding and appreciation of Nike and its mission, so when Christopher McDougall starts blaming Nike for causing the running injury epidemic for the sake of profit (without much supporting evidence, might I add), I'm rather skeptical.

But despite all the complaints, I enjoyed Born to Run quite a bit, especially the part about human evolution and persistence hunting. Christopher McDougall's account and his personal journey as a runner not only successfully convinced me that yes, indeed, humans were born to run, but also inspired me to go for a run myself. Thank you for that :)