Born to Run

Back in the day at Eastern Mountain Sports we had a life size cut out of ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes. We had received it as part of a promotion for his autobiography, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. For a few weeks it stood at the front of the store and then Brian moved it to the back. To the bathroom actually, where every time you turned on the light the thing would scare the crap out of you. Because that thing was scary! Karnas was in full tilt, half naked, full wild-man running mode – and aimed right at you. But it not only scared the crap out of me, it also pissed the crap out of me. I've always really admired the long distance athletes. Marathoners, ultrmarathons, rides across the country, all that is just really cool . And here was this weird parody of a man representing all that in a way that was even scarier than most people already viewed it. Well actually, most people think distance events aren't so much scary as they are crazy.

And thats what brings us to today's topic - the Book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen – the bestest book ever on running, long distance running, and the human body's true function and potential. Revolving around the story of one man's running injury and a tribe of life-long runners in Mexico, the author relates the history of running, ultra-marathons and marathoners, (in which he also mentions the exception that is Karnasses), human evolution, the evil that is the sneaker industry, the beauty that is the human foot, the misguided advise of the medical profession, and the potential in all of us.

The upshot - “baby we were born to run!”