Born to Run A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

But those guys up in the mountains, they're talking about in that book born to run.

Like they have insane endurance and they live up in that mountain and they just run around.

No one was really paying attention to it until 2010 when a guy named Christopher McDougall came out with a book called Born to Run.

And it's basically, it makes the case that like paleo does for dieting. That like we have evolved to be a certain way to behave under certain conditions.

And our modern world has kind of taken that and co-opted it and messed everything up. And as a result, we're suffering from all these maladies.

But rather than eating ultra processed food as the paleo diet whole thing is based on, this was that these modern running shoes we're running in are actually causing injuries.

I've seen it referred to as the most influential running book of all time.

read the book born to run. It's about running and you read the whole book. I read the whole book, the whole book.

He talks about this album as his samurai record, all stripped down for fighting.

there's a book called born to run Nick and I think it tells you to like

it's a book written by Christopher McDougall, massive bestseller. Basically looked at this tribe in Mexico that runs like 70 mile distances, you know, regularly. These just to back and forth. And they run barefoot or they use these very thin rubber-soled sandals.

And so the argument in this book is that actually humans are made to run without cushioning, that cushioning which was started in the 60s and 70s. That actually is not a natural way to run.

Somebody handed you that book, right? Yeah. Did they say, hey, you know, you might want to look into this if you're getting a lot of injuries. Like what do you remember?

So my friend Simon hands me Born to Run and says, maybe there's something in here. Maybe you should try running barefoot just to see what you learn.

Everything you need for like a running animal is all piled up in human body. We have springy tenons, we have this nuchal ligament, we have arches in our feet, which give us lots of recoil energy. We have an Achilles tendon.

I think the reason why we wear shoes is because in the 1970s, someone thought it'd be really cool to sell people a bunch of shoes and they have just been running shoes.

I would try to run to get in shape. I would get injured. Doctors have said your body isn't designed for this. You're too big. The impact's bad. Then I get out of the Copper Canyon and I had this bizarre...

And what he told me is it ain't the shoes. It's not the genetics. It's how you run.

I think there's a natural ancestral pull, that early humans, if you saw something new, interesting, or more effective, you gravitate toward that. It's the reason why we went from spears to bows and arrows. The better technology is going to give you an evolutionary advantage.

I think the reason why we wear shoes is because in the 1970s, someone thought it'd be really cool to sell people a bunch of shoes and they have just been running shoes.

It ain't the shoes. It's not the genetics. It's how you run.

Protection, but not correction.

I think there's a natural ancestral pull, that early humans, if you saw something new, interesting, or more effective, you gravitate toward that. It's the reason why we went from spears to bows and arrows. The better technology is going to give you an evolutionary advantage.

And we just need to cycle back every once in a while and just say, hey, what has worked for 2 million years as opposed to 10 years?

In this show we're featuring my interview with Chris McDougal. Who was the author of the book Born to Run.

He's a journalist who studied anthropological tribes and their running habits, and he learned quite a bit.

If I'd say, hey, Neil, there's one thing I can give you a little pill that's going to blow out obesity and diabetes and depression and suicidal fixations. It will basically cure every leading cause of death in the United States minus one or two. Would you take the pill? Yeah. OK. What if I told you that pill is for free? You don't have to spend any money. Go out your door and you can get in 45 minutes.

And he's gonna talk about how they evolved from a group of people who were born in the desert, to a Mexican Tarahumara tribe. And all they do is run all day and night. And they never sleep, apparently.

You know, Neil, every time I would go to a doctor and ask them about why I was injured, I got the same answer, which is running is bad for the body.

I read this book called Born to Run. Christopher McDougall, great, great book.