Running Hard

Chris McDougall draws several conclusions in his book Born To Run. He states that running shoes are the most damaging piece of athletic equipment to ever come along, ruining knees and feet in the name of comfort. He suggests that ultra marathon running lowers the risk of cancer, and he even believes that he has proven the existence of persistence hunting, or running down the meat with superior strategy. He argues that Neanderthals gave way to Homo Sapiens because the Neanderthals refused to adapt, refused to take to the run when their large, less mobile quarry were no longer available.
The one conclusion I was waiting for was the connection between the Mexican Tarahumara Indians and the fountain of youth. McDougall shows how the Tarahumara, fueled by a mixture of corn and beans, run great distances with regularity, even into their sixties and seventies. He believes their combination of diet and exercise, along with a tradition born of necessity and resolve, allow them to avoid cancers, heart disease, even arthritis. What he doesn't conclude, though, is that this combination can lead to long life for everyone else. He stops short of claiming this lifestyle is the elusive fountain of youth, but it is a conclusion many of his readers might make. I know I do every time Odin and I take off on a trail run these days, pushing up hills and leaping over dead-falls. We will keep running because as McDougall does conclude unequivocally is that we were all "born to run."