After hearing so much about Born to Run (almost typoed it Born to Rub, wouldn't THAT be a cool book) I got hold of a copy and read it. For those who care here are my impressions.
McDougall is indeed a skilled story teller, weaving interestingly supple supporting segments about such diverse topics as personal narrative, backstory of characters, and popular interpretations of scientific historiography with the greater story arc about Caballo Blanco and the race. He is masterful in drawing the reader into reading dozens more pages than he or she has time and the relatively thick book melts away. I recommend it to every runner.
BUT.......
I am confused, bemused, and lost. I read the book on account of how many thousands of people who have cited McDougall as their intellectual ancestor leading them to run barefoot. In other words, many have said that reading this remarkable work inspired them to run commando.
In Norwegian we have a word. Hæ. Although translated roughly as 'huh' or 'whuh' one really must hear it pronounced to appreciate the sense of being lost in the cognitive sense. So I say 'Hæ?'
Barefooting is barely mentioned in the narrative and the two instances are not generally positive. The first is in relation to a Tarahumara breaking his huarache and being forced to finish a race barefoot resulting in 'torn and bloody' feet. Here the character of the runner is demonstrated by his willingness to overcome and ignore being barefoot.
The second is in connection to Barefoot Ted and here running barefoot is presented as a eccentric practice. Look at this nut, Barefoot Ted who never shuts up, wears funny clothes to be odd and runs barefoot. Barefoot is here presented as non-conformist for the sake of non-conformity. I can't help think of the underground Beat art scene of the 50s in this context. Ted finishes the race with bloody and torn feet, McDougall presenting him hiding the injuries with tape and bandages in a furtive way.
In both cases running barefoot results in injury, both cases are not what you would call good examples of it. So why do so many people credit McDougall with inspiring them to run BF?
Oh?`What's that you say? There is a chapter denouncing the modern running shoe? Sure, I got that. McDougall seems to blame them for many injuries and problems all right. So I guess you could argue that he is in favor of minimal footwear at the most. Except that in the narrative he seems to attribute evil to modern running shoes only in context of someone who doesn't 'get it' Like the New School Tarahumara who cheated in the race. They wore evil running shoes. So did several others who were cast as fools or villains.
But not the Bushmen, Scott Jurek, Billy, either Jenns, or the author himself? No, they 'get it' and apparently can wear shoes without any trouble.
ANYWHO......McDougall will inspire you to run, he may even inspire you to wear a reduced shoe and try to run for the fun of running. He may even get you a little suspicious of running shoes and wear sandals or flats instead. But barefoot or even VFFs? I am just not seeing it. Can someone tell me if my copy was missing some pages or something?
McDougall is indeed a skilled story teller, weaving interestingly supple supporting segments about such diverse topics as personal narrative, backstory of characters, and popular interpretations of scientific historiography with the greater story arc about Caballo Blanco and the race. He is masterful in drawing the reader into reading dozens more pages than he or she has time and the relatively thick book melts away. I recommend it to every runner.
BUT.......
I am confused, bemused, and lost. I read the book on account of how many thousands of people who have cited McDougall as their intellectual ancestor leading them to run barefoot. In other words, many have said that reading this remarkable work inspired them to run commando.
In Norwegian we have a word. Hæ. Although translated roughly as 'huh' or 'whuh' one really must hear it pronounced to appreciate the sense of being lost in the cognitive sense. So I say 'Hæ?'
Barefooting is barely mentioned in the narrative and the two instances are not generally positive. The first is in relation to a Tarahumara breaking his huarache and being forced to finish a race barefoot resulting in 'torn and bloody' feet. Here the character of the runner is demonstrated by his willingness to overcome and ignore being barefoot.
The second is in connection to Barefoot Ted and here running barefoot is presented as a eccentric practice. Look at this nut, Barefoot Ted who never shuts up, wears funny clothes to be odd and runs barefoot. Barefoot is here presented as non-conformist for the sake of non-conformity. I can't help think of the underground Beat art scene of the 50s in this context. Ted finishes the race with bloody and torn feet, McDougall presenting him hiding the injuries with tape and bandages in a furtive way.
In both cases running barefoot results in injury, both cases are not what you would call good examples of it. So why do so many people credit McDougall with inspiring them to run BF?
Oh?`What's that you say? There is a chapter denouncing the modern running shoe? Sure, I got that. McDougall seems to blame them for many injuries and problems all right. So I guess you could argue that he is in favor of minimal footwear at the most. Except that in the narrative he seems to attribute evil to modern running shoes only in context of someone who doesn't 'get it' Like the New School Tarahumara who cheated in the race. They wore evil running shoes. So did several others who were cast as fools or villains.
But not the Bushmen, Scott Jurek, Billy, either Jenns, or the author himself? No, they 'get it' and apparently can wear shoes without any trouble.
ANYWHO......McDougall will inspire you to run, he may even inspire you to wear a reduced shoe and try to run for the fun of running. He may even get you a little suspicious of running shoes and wear sandals or flats instead. But barefoot or even VFFs? I am just not seeing it. Can someone tell me if my copy was missing some pages or something?