On May 5, 2009, Christopher McDougall published Born to Run. McDougall had many disappointed doctor appointments and unsuccessful treatments after he suffered repeated foot injuries. This lead to the search of the Tarahumara; a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners. McDougall writes about the Tarahumara Indians that live in Mexico and their superhuman ability to run hundreds of miles without getting injured. McDougall proves that genetic is not the only reason that makes the Tarahumara super athletes, but the simplicity of their lives and how our bodies are born to run. Running, for the Tarahumara is integral to everything they do. Their societal structure depends on the strategic formation they run in respect of their social rank. This improves their endurance, as well mental well-being and social health. All men, women, child, old and young in are capable of running over 200 miles in a single run. The Tarahumaras run for fun, run to communicate, and for food. One example that McDougall talks about is rarajipari, the Tarahumara running games. There are two teams of kids and “two wooden balls, each about the size of a baseball” (Mcdougall). They would end up running a total of 4 miles on these balls. “No one really seemed to care who won; …show more content…
Running outside has evolved to running on a treadmill in a gym to burn calories. The runners who run for the enjoyment are buying new shoes, the most recent GPS watches, and sweat-wicking clothes. The sport of running has lost its true meaning of the freedom of connecting with nature and the most important; the means of survival. McDougall was able to learn that all the complex technology that we process are the source of our problem. He was able to overcome this injury by modeling the Tarahumara runners. He believes that modern cushioned running shoes are a major cause of running injury, pointing to the thin sandals called huaraches worn by Tarahumara