The Story
Born To Run is an inspiring story of triumph, innovation, and the incredible things humans can do when they set their minds and bodies against impossible tasks. McDougall's writing keeps you right there with the runners. Writing about the actual events of an ultramarathon is a tricky task that he handles well. The action moves seamlessly and you feel the pulse of the race right along with the runners. The Tarahumara are compelling characters in the narrative. They're mysterious and joyful and insouciant in a way that recalls something far older than themselves.
On pg. 74, McDougall tells the tale of "Martimano Cervantes, a forty-two-year-old master of the ball game, and his protege, twenty-five-year-old Juan Herrera. Choguita is bitterly cold at night and sun-scorched by day, so even when running, the Choguita Tarahumara protect themselves with fine woolen ponchos that hang nearly to their feet. As they fly down the trail, capes flowing around them, they look like magicians appearing from a puff of smoke." This a great description that captures the mystery of the hidden tribe, and you can't help but root for these guys, especially when they run up against the iron-willed Ann Trason, a community college science professor who, at least according to the book, is the champion of the female ultramarathon world. By the end of pg. 100 (and the close of Chapter 15), their showdown is not yet finished, and I can't wait to find out what happens. This is by far the strongest part of Born To Run: this story needed to be told.
