This is the most inspiring book on running I’ve ever read. It is about the Tarahumara tribe (also called Rarámuri), who live in current-day northern Mexico. Capable of running hundreds of miles, members of the Rarámuri (“those who run fast” in the native tongue) are super-athletes, with a culture in which running is inseparable from everyday life.

An excerpt from the book:

In Tarahumara Land, there was no crime, war, or theft. There was no corruption, obesity, drug addiction, greed, wife-beating, child abuse, heart disease, high blood pressure, or carbon emissions. They didn’t get diabetes, or depressed, or even old: fifty-year-olds could outrun teenagers, and eighty-year-old great-grandads could hike marathon distances up mountainsides. Their cancer rates were barely detectable. The Tarahumara geniuses had even branched into economics, creating a one-of-a-kind financial system based on booze and random acts of kindness: instead of money, they traded favors and big tubs of corn beer. You’d expect an economic engine fueled by alcohol and freebies to spiral into a drunken grab-fest, everyone double-fisting for themselves like bankrupt gamblers at a casino buffet, but in Tarahumara Land, it works.

While stuff like that is fantastic to read, you can find plenty of information about the Rarámuri today online. It’s not just the story of the Rarámuri that makes this book remarkable.

Christopher McDougall’s writing effuses a bottomless, infectious, and unbridled joy in running. I don’t believe I have ever looked forward to my next run, as much as I did, after finishing this book. The people described in the stories (there are many and they are real) are fascinating and defy belief almost as often as you turn the page. The races and challenges are described in intricate, inspiring detail, and the entire story of the race that Caballo (you will love him) put together is as engrossing as it is romantic.

It takes a certain kind of inner fortitude to train for and run a 50-mile ultramarathon through punishing terrain when you’ve never run one, and are prone to severe injuries. This is especially true when the other 24 people participating can do two of these ultras, in the time it would take you to do one. Born to Run also covers McDougall’s journey from injuries that wouldn’t let him run even a few miles, to running Caballo’s first 50 mile Copper Canyon Ultra. In chronicling this journey along with the story of the Rarámuri, McDougall makes an argument for natural running and provides engrossing stories and research, on how running evolved us into who we are today.

Born to Run reshaped popular opinion, by making a case for barefoot running and setting off an ongoing debate. Natural running styles such as POSE, Chi and Evolution, had been steadily gathering momentum at the time of the book’s release.  The book unwittingly kicked off a natural running movement. Inspired by this book, hundreds of thousands of runners have made the transition to barefoot running and natural running styles since then.

It also helped create a market segment worth billions, and umpteen new businesses which today cater to the needs of runners who’ve adopted barefoot/natural running styles. As a result, running shoes in general have become simpler in design with a heightened focus on ensuring good natural running form, instead of just pronation and cushioning. Shoes popular with running enthusiasts today sit almost flat with a heel-to-toe drop of 6mm or less, sport a flat or rocker shaped heel to facilitate a natural midfoot strike and are generally more flexible regardless of cushioning. New brands such as Xero (minimal), Vivo Barefoot(minimal), Altra (zero-drop, cushioned and roomy),  and Hoka One One(Super-cushioned, low-drop rockers) have popped up and are fast gaining market share. Existing brands such as Merrell and Vibram have invested fully into barefoot running significantly increasing their market share. Running industry mainstays such as Asics, Brooks, New Balance and Nike are busy adapting; some more successfully than others. These are just a few examples of a larger and clearly welcome shift in the sport and market.

Not many books can lay claim to such consequences. Pick it up. It is also world-forgettingly unputdownable.