Title: Born to Run
Author: Christopher McDougall
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 296
Rating: 4/5
I picked this book up because I’m a keen runner and I’m always looking to learn more about the sport, and from a runner’s point of view, I was kind of disappointed. Sure, running is central to the story, but in the same way that transportation is central to On the Road. The book wouldn’t exist without it, but it’s also largely incidental.
Instead, it’s more about the disappearance of cultures and ways of life, and the way that cisgender Caucasians tend to bulldoze their way through whatever they find, even when they do so with the best of intentions. For example, Christian missionaries introduced all sorts of diseases to the Tarahumara Indians, the tribe that McDougall sets out to find at the start of the book.
This, then, is the story of his adventure into uncharted territory as he tries to track down these elusive super-runners, but it’s more about the journey than the destination. That’s why there’s less about running in this than I was expecting.
With that said, I still enjoyed reading it, and it’s the kind of narrative non-fiction that could appeal to a lot of readers, especially if they’re fans of writers like Bill Bryson. If it was only about running then it wouldn’t have been as widely read, and that means that I wouldn’t have found it going cheap in a charity shop.
And so all in all, I think Born to Run is worth reading, but if you’re looking for something on the philosophy and act of running then you’re going to want to look somewhere else. That’s fine, just know what you’re letting yourself in for.
