Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Book Description

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.Book Description
Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.
Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Christopher McDougall

Christopher McDougall: The key secret hit me like a thunderbolt. It was so simple, yet such a jolt. It was this: everything I’d been taught about running was wrong. We treat running in the modern world the same way we treat childbirth—it’s going to hurt, and requires special exercises and equipment, and the best you can hope for is to get it over with quickly with minimal damage.

Then I meet the Tarahumara, and they’re having a blast. They remember what it’s like to love running, and it lets them blaze through the canyons like dolphins rocketing through waves. For them, running isn’t work. It isn’t a punishment for eating. It’s fine art, like it was for our ancestors. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle—behold, the Running Man.

The Tarahumara have a saying: “Children run before they can walk.” Watch any four-year-old—they do everything at full speed, and it’s all about fun. That’s the most important thing I picked up from my time in the Copper Canyons, the understanding that running can be fast and fun and spontaneous, and when it is, you feel like you can go forever. But all of that begins with your feet. Strange as it sounds, the Tarahumara taught me to change my relationship with the ground. Instead of hammering down on my heels, the way I’d been taught all my life, I learned to run lightly and gently on the balls of my feet. The day I mastered it was the last day I was ever injured.

Q: You trained for your first ultramarathon—a race organized by the mysterious gringo expat Caballo Blanco between the Tarahumara and some of America’s top ultrarunners—while researching and writing this book. What was your training like?

CM: It really started as kind of a dare. Just by chance, I’d met an adventure-sports coach from Jackson Hole, Wyoming named Eric Orton. Eric’s specialty is tearing endurance sports down to their basic components and looking for transferable skills. He studies rock climbing to find shoulder techniques for kayakers, and applies Nordic skiing’s smooth propulsion to mountain biking. What he’s looking for are basic engineering principles, because he’s convinced that the next big leap forward in fitness won’t come from strength or technology, but plain, simple durability. With some 70% of all runners getting hurt every year, the athlete who can stay healthy and avoid injury will leave the competition behind.

So naturally, Eric idolized the Tarahumara. Any tribe that has 90-year-old men running across mountaintops obviously has a few training tips up its sleeve. But since Eric had never actually met the Tarahumara, he had to deduce their methods by pure reasoning. His starting point was uncertainty; he assumed that the Tarahumara step into the unknown every time they leave their caves, because they never know how fast they’ll have to sprint after a rabbit or how tricky the climbing will be if they’re caught in a storm. They never even know how long a race will be until they step up to the starting line—the distance is only determined in a last-minute bout of negotiating and could stretch anywhere from 50 miles to 200-plus.

Eric figured shock and awe was the best way for me to build durability and mimic Tarahumara-style running. He’d throw something new at me every day—hopping drills, lunges, mile intervals—and lots and lots of hills. There was no such thing, really, as long, slow distance—he’d have me mix lots of hill repeats and short bursts of speed into every mega-long run.

I didn’t think I could do it without breaking down, and I told Eric that from the start. I basically defied him to turn me into a runner. And by the end of nine months, I was cranking out four hour runs without a problem.

Q: You’re a six-foot four-inches tall, 200-plus pound guy—not anyone’s typical vision of a distance runner, yet you’ve completed ultra marathons and are training for more. Is there a body type for running, as many of us assume, or are all humans built to run?

CM: Yeah, I’m a big’un. But isn’t it sad that’s even a reasonable question? I bought into that bull for a loooong time. Why wouldn’t I? I was constantly being told by people who should know better that “some bodies aren’t designed for running.” One of the best sports medicine physicians in the country told me exactly that—that the reason I was constantly getting hurt is because I was too big to handle the impact shock from my feet hitting the ground. Just recently, I interviewed a nationally-known sports podiatrist who said, “You know, we didn’t ALL evolve to run away from saber-toothed tigers.” Meaning, what? That anyone who isn’t sleek as a Kenyan marathoner should be extinct? It’s such illogical blather—all kinds of body types exist today, so obviously they DID evolve to move quickly on their feet. It’s really awful that so many doctors are reinforcing this learned helplessness, this idea that you have to be some kind of elite being to handle such a basic, universal movement.

Q: If humans are born to run, as you argue, what’s your advice for a runner who is looking to make the leap from shorter road races to marathons, or marathons to ultramarathons? Is running really for everyone?

CM: I think ultrarunning is America’s hope for the future. Honestly. The ultrarunners have got a hold of some powerful wisdom. You can see it at the starting line of any ultra race. I showed up at the Leadville Trail 100 expecting to see a bunch of hollow-eyed Skeletors, and instead it was, “Whoah! Get a load of the hotties!” Ultra runners tend to be amazingly healthy, youthful and—believe it or not—good looking. I couldn’t figure out why, until one runner explained that throughout history, the four basic ingredients for optimal health have been clean air, good food, fresh water and low stress. And that, to a T, describes the daily life of an ultrarunner. They’re out in the woods for hours at a time, breathing pine-scented breezes, eating small bursts of digestible food, downing water by the gallons, and feeling their stress melt away with the miles. But here’s the real key to that kingdom: you have to relax and enjoy the run. No one cares how fast you run 50 miles, so ultrarunners don’t really stress about times. They’re out to enjoy the run and finish strong, not shave a few inconsequential seconds off a personal best. And that’s the best way to transition up to big mileage races: as coach Eric told me, “If it feels like work, you’re working too hard.”

Q: You write that distance running is the great equalizer of age and gender. Can you explain?

CM: Okay, I’ll answer that question with a question: Starting at age nineteen, runners get faster every year until they hit their peak at twenty-seven. After twenty-seven, they start to decline. So if it takes you eight years to reach your peak, how many years does it take for you to regress back to the same speed you were running at nineteen?

Go ahead, guess all you want. No one I’ve asked has ever come close. It’s in the book, so I won’t give it away, but I guarantee when you hear the answer, you’ll say, “No way. THAT old?” Now, factor in this: ultra races are the only sport in the world in which women can go toe-to-toe with men and hand them their heads. Ann Trason and Krissy Moehl often beat every man in the field in some ultraraces, while Emily Baer recently finished in the Top 10 at the Hardrock 100 while stopping to breastfeed her baby at the water stations.

So how’s that possible? According to a new body of research, it’s because humans are the greatest distance runners on earth. We may not be fast, but we’re born with such remarkable natural endurance that humans are fully capable of outrunning horses, cheetahs and antelopes. That’s because we once hunted in packs and on foot; all of us, men and women alike, young and old together.

Q: One of the fascinating parts of Born to Run is your report on how the ultrarunners eat—salad for breakfast, wraps with hummus mid-run, or pizza and beer the night before a run. As a runner with a lot of miles behind him, what are your thoughts on nutrition for running?

CM: Live every day like you’re on the lam. If you’ve got to be ready to pick up and haul butt at a moment’s notice, you’re not going to be loading up on gut-busting meals. I thought I’d have to go on some kind of prison-camp diet to get ready for an ultra, but the best advice I got came from coach Eric, who told me to just worry about the running and the eating would take care of itself. And he was right, sort of. I instinctively began eating smaller, more digestible meals as my miles increased, but then I went behind his back and consulted with the great Dr. Ruth Heidrich, an Ironman triathlete who lives on a vegan diet. She’s the one who gave me the idea of having salad for breakfast, and it’s a fantastic tip. The truth is, many of the greatest endurance athletes of all time lived on fruits and vegetables. You can get away with garbage for a while, but you pay for it in the long haul. In the book, I describe how Jenn Shelton and Billy “Bonehead” Barnett like to chow pizza and Mountain Dew in the middle of 100-mile races, but Jenn is also a vegetarian who most days lives on veggie burgers and grapes.

Q: In this difficult financial time, we’re experiencing yet another surge in the popularity of running. Can you explain this?

CM: When things look worst, we run the most. Three times, America has seen distance-running skyrocket and it’s always in the midst of a national crisis. The first boom came during the Great Depression; the next was in the ‘70s, when we were struggling to recover from a recession, race riots, assassinations, a criminal President and an awful war. And the third boom? One year after the Sept. 11 attacks, trailrunning suddenly became the fastest-growing outdoor sport in the country. I think there’s a trigger in the human psyche that activates our first and greatest survival skill whenever we see the shadow of approaching raptors.

(Photo © James Rexroad)

中文：

书名：Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

这是一次史诗般的冒险，从一个简单的问题开始：为什么我的脚疼？

与世隔绝的墨西哥致命的铜峡谷，幸福的塔拉乌马拉印第安人磨练了数百英里不休息或受伤的能力。在一个引人入胜的故事中，获奖记者、经常受伤的赛跑运动员克里斯托弗·麦克杜格尔开始探索他们的秘密。在这个过程中，他带着他的读者从哈佛大学的科学实验室来到北美各地阳光明媚的山谷和冰冷的山峰，在那里，越来越多的超级跑步者将自己的身体推到极限，最后，他带着他的读者去参加在铜峡谷举行的一场高潮比赛，美国最优秀的超级跑步者将与部落进行较量。麦克杜格尔令人难以置信的故事不仅会吸引你的大脑，而且当你意识到你，实际上是我们所有人，生来就是跑步的时候，你的身体也会受到启发。图书描述
充满了令人难以置信的人物，令人惊叹的运动成就，尖端科学，最重要的是，纯粹的灵感， 生来就是为了奔跑 是一场史诗般的冒险，从一个简单的问题开始： Why does my foot hurt? 为了寻找答案，克里斯托弗·麦克杜格尔出发去寻找一群世界上最伟大的长跑运动员，并了解他们的秘密，在这个过程中，他告诉我们，我们认为自己对跑步的所有了解都是错误的。

与世隔绝的是北美最野蛮的地形，与世隔绝的塔拉乌马拉印第安人居住在墨西哥致命的铜峡谷，他们是一件失落艺术品的保管人。几个世纪以来，他们一直练习着不休息地跑数百英里的技术，在享受每一英里的同时，追逐从鹿到奥运会马拉松运动员的任何东西。他们的超人天赋与不可思议的健康和宁静相匹配，使塔拉乌马拉人对困扰现代生活的疾病和冲突免疫。在部落中的神秘独行者Caballo Blanco的帮助下，作者不仅能够揭开塔拉乌马拉的秘密，而且还找到了自己内心的超级运动员，因为他为一生中的挑战而训练：一场穿越塔拉乌马拉国家中心的50英里赛跑，部落与一群奇怪的美国人对决，其中包括一名明星超级马拉松运动员，一名年轻漂亮的冲浪运动员，以及一名赤脚奇迹。

凭借敏锐的机智和狂野的活力，麦克杜格尔将我们从哈佛的高科技科学实验室带到北美各地阳光炙烤的山谷和冰冷的山峰，在那里，越来越多的超级跑步者将自己的身体推到了极限，最后，来到了铜峡谷的巅峰赛跑。 生来就是为了奔跑 这是一本罕见的书，当你意识到幸福的秘诀就在你脚下，你，甚至我们所有人，生来就是跑步的时候，这本书不仅会吸引你的大脑，还会激励你的身体。
亚马逊独家报道：克里斯托弗·麦克杜格尔问答

克里斯托弗·麦克杜格尔： 关键的秘密使我恍然大悟。它是如此简单，却又如此震撼。问题是：我学到的关于跑步的一切都是错误的。在现代世界，我们对待跑步就像对待分娩一样–跑步会很痛，需要特殊的锻炼和器材，你所能希望的最好的情况是，以最小的伤害迅速结束跑步。

然后我遇到了塔拉乌马拉人，他们玩得很开心。他们记得喜欢跑步是什么感觉，这让他们像海豚在海浪中飞翔一样在峡谷中闪耀。对他们来说，跑步不是工作。这不是对吃东西的惩罚。这是一种艺术，就像我们的祖先一样。早在我们在洞穴上画画或在中空的树上敲打节奏之前，我们就已经完善了将我们的呼吸、大脑和肌肉结合在一起的艺术，使其在荒野中流畅地自我推进。当我们的祖先最终做出了他们的第一幅洞穴壁画时，第一批设计是什么？一道向下的斜线，闪电穿过底部和中间–看，奔跑的人。

塔拉乌马拉人有一句谚语：“孩子们先跑后会走。”看看任何四岁的孩子–他们做任何事情都是全速的，这一切都是为了好玩。这是我在铜峡谷度过的时光中学到的最重要的东西，理解到跑步可以是快速、有趣和自发的，当它发生时，你会觉得你可以永远走下去。但这一切都始于你的双脚。虽然听起来很奇怪，但塔拉乌马拉人教会了我改变我与地面的关系。我学会了用脚掌轻柔地奔跑，而不是像我一生中一直被教导的那样，用脚后跟敲打脚跟。我掌握它的那一天是我受伤的最后一天。

Q: 在研究和撰写这本书时，你为你的第一次超级马拉松进行了训练-这是一场由神秘的外国佬Caballo Blanco组织的比赛，比赛的对象是塔拉乌马拉人和一些美国顶级的超级跑步者。你的训练是怎样的？

CM: 这真的是一种挑战。一次偶然的机会，我遇到了一位来自怀俄明州杰克逊霍尔的探险运动教练，名叫埃里克·奥顿。埃里克的专长是将耐力运动分解为基本组成部分，并寻找可转让的技能。他研究攀岩，为皮划艇运动员寻找肩部技术，并将北欧滑雪的平稳推进应用到山地自行车运动中。他正在寻找的是基本的工程学原理，因为他相信健身领域的下一次重大飞跃不会来自力量或技术，而是简单、简单的耐用性。由于每年约有70%的跑步者受伤，能够保持健康并避免受伤的运动员将退出比赛。

因此，埃里克自然而然地崇拜塔拉乌马拉。任何有90岁老人在山顶奔跑的部落，显然都有一些训练秘诀。但由于埃里克实际上从未见过塔拉乌马拉人，他不得不通过纯粹的推理来推断他们的方法。他的出发点是不确定性；他假设塔拉乌马拉人每次离开洞穴都会进入未知的境地，因为他们永远不知道他们必须以多快的速度追赶一只兔子，或者如果他们遇到暴风雨，攀登将会有多困难。他们甚至不知道一场比赛会有多长时间，直到他们站到起跑线上–距离只在最后一轮谈判中确定，可能从50英里到200多英里不等。

埃里克认为，震惊和敬畏是我建立耐久性和模仿塔拉乌马拉风格跑步的最好方式。他每天都会向我抛出一些新的东西–跳跃训练、弓步、一英里的间隔–还有很多很多的山丘。真的，没有像长距离这样的事情–他会让我在每一次超长跑中混合大量的坡道重复和短时间的速度爆发。

我认为我不可能在不崩溃的情况下做到这一点，我从一开始就告诉埃里克。我基本上是违抗了他，把我变成了一名赛跑运动员。到九个月结束时，我可以毫无问题地跑出四个小时。

Q: 你是一个身高6英尺4英寸，体重200多磅的家伙–不是任何人典型的长跑运动员的愿景，但你已经完成了超级马拉松，并正在为更多的比赛而训练。有没有像我们许多人认为的那样适合跑步的体型，或者说所有的人都是为跑步而生的？

CM: 是啊，我是个大块头。但这是一个合理的问题，难道不可悲吗？我买了那头牛很长一段时间。我怎么会不想呢？经常有人告诉我，他们应该更了解“有些身体不是为跑步而生的。”美国最好的运动医学医生之一告诉我，我经常受伤的原因是因为我太大了，无法承受双脚落地时的冲击波。就在最近，我采访了一位全国知名的运动足科医生，他说：“你知道，我们并不都是为了逃离剑齿虎而进化出来的。”意思是，什么？认为任何不像肯尼亚马拉松运动员那样光鲜的人都应该灭绝？这是如此不合逻辑的胡说八道–今天存在着各种各样的体型，所以很明显，它们确实进化到了快速站立。如此多的医生强化了这种习得的无助感，认为你必须是某种精英才能处理这样一种基本的、普遍的运动，这真的很可怕。

Q: 如果像你所说的那样，人类生来就是跑步的，那么对于一个希望从较短的公路赛跑到马拉松，或者从马拉松到超级马拉松的跑步者，你有什么建议呢？跑步真的是为每个人准备的吗？

CM: 我认为超跑是美国未来的希望。老实说。超级跑步者已经掌握了一些强大的智慧。你可以在任何极限比赛的起跑线上看到它。我出现在莱德维尔100号步道上，本以为会看到一群中空的骷髅，结果却是：“哇！看看这些辣妹吧！“超级跑步者往往非常健康、年轻，而且–信不信由你–长得漂亮。我不明白为什么，直到一位跑步者解释说，纵观历史，最佳健康的四个基本要素一直是清洁的空气、良好的食物、新鲜的水和低压力。对于T来说，这描述了一个超级跑步者的日常生活。他们一次在树林里呆上几个小时，呼吸着松香的微风，吃着少量可消化的食物，一加仑一加仑地喝水，感觉到他们的压力随着里程的消融。但这才是通往这个王国的真正关键：你必须放松，享受跑步的乐趣。没有人关心你跑50英里有多快，所以超级跑步者不会真的对时间感到压力。他们是为了享受这场比赛，并以强劲的成绩结束比赛，而不是让个人最好成绩减少几秒钟。这是过渡到大里程比赛的最好方法：就像埃里克教练告诉我的那样，“如果感觉像是工作，那你就太努力了。”

Q: 你写道，长跑是年龄和性别的极大平衡器。你能解释一下吗？

CM: 好吧，我会用一个问题来回答这个问题：从19岁开始，跑步者每年都会变得更快，直到27岁达到顶峰。到了27岁以后，这一比例开始下降。那么，如果你需要8年才能达到巅峰，你需要多少年才能回到19岁时的相同速度？

去吧，猜你想要的一切。我问过的人中，从来没有人接近过。这是书上写的，所以我不会说出去，但我保证，当你听到答案时，你会说，“不可能。这么老吗？“现在，考虑到这一点：超级赛是世界上唯一一项女性可以与男性正面交锋并将头交给他们的运动。安·特拉森和克里西·莫尔经常在一些极限比赛中击败每一个人，而艾米丽·贝尔最近在哈德罗克100米比赛中停下来给她的孩子喂奶，进入了前十名。

那么这怎么可能呢？根据一项新的研究，这是因为人类是地球上最伟大的长跑运动员。我们可能跑得不快，但我们天生就有非凡的耐力，人类完全有能力跑得比马、猎豹和羚羊更快。这是因为我们曾经成群结队和徒步狩猎；我们所有人，男女老少都在一起。

Q: 令人着迷的部分之一 生来就是为了奔跑 你的报告是关于超级跑步者的饮食–早餐吃沙拉，中途用鹰嘴豆泥包裹，或者在跑步前一晚吃披萨和啤酒。作为一名距离很远的跑步者，你对跑步的营养有什么看法？

CM: 过好每一天，就像你在逃亡。如果你必须准备好在一瞬间捡起并拖走屁股，你就不会吃上令人筋疲力尽的食物。我以为我必须进行某种战俘营式的节食，才能为超级碗做好准备，但我从教练埃里克那里得到了最好的建议，他告诉我只需要担心跑步，吃东西就会自己照顾好自己。在某种程度上，他是对的。随着里程的增加，我本能地开始吃更少、更容易消化的食物，但后来我背着他咨询了伟大的露丝·海德里希博士，他是一名铁人三项运动员，以纯素食为生。是她给了我早餐吃沙拉的想法，这是一个很棒的建议。事实是，有史以来许多最有耐力的运动员都是靠水果和蔬菜为生的。你可以在一段时间内摆脱垃圾，但从长远来看，你会为此付出代价。在这本书中，我描述了珍·谢尔顿和比利·巴尼特在100英里的比赛中是如何喜欢吃披萨和山露的，但珍也是一个素食主义者，大多数时间都吃素食汉堡和葡萄。

Q: 在这个财政困难的时期，我们正经历着跑步热潮的又一次飙升。你能解释一下这个吗？

CM: 当情况看起来最糟糕的时候，我们跑得最多。美国已经三次见证了长跑的飞速发展，而且总是处于国家危机之中。第一次繁荣出现在大萧条期间；第二次是在70年代，当时我们正努力从衰退、种族骚乱、暗杀、犯罪总统和可怕的战争中恢复过来。第三次繁荣呢？9·11事件一年后。11起袭击事件后，越野跑突然成为该国增长最快的户外运动。我认为，每当我们看到猛禽逼近的阴影时，人类心理中就会有一个触发器，激活我们第一个也是最伟大的生存技能。

(Photo-JamesRexroad)