Are We Born To Run?

by Emily Readett

In a featured Ted Talk, Christopher McDougall passionately considers the human desires to run. He shares three separate stories of runners today: an underdog marathoner, a super athlete, and a hidden tribe in Mexico. As a runner myself, Christopher McDougall’s ideas on the innovation of running are particularly interesting. I am constantly surrounded by injury, or injured myself. These new ideas introduced during this Ted Talk may offer hope to many like me or my teammates.

In McDougall's first heartwarming story he talks of an Ethiopian underdog, Derartu Tulu, who shows compassion and competitive drive. Tulu hadn't won a marathon in 8 years, yet she sacrificed her chance to victory during a race to help a competitor, Paula Radcliffe, make it to the finish line. Radcliffe was unable to keep up and dropped off, but Tulu explodes forward to claim the win. Derartu Tulu shows a rare mix of competitiveness and empathy that wins her the marathon and the big check to take home to her newborn baby.

Christopher McDougall then shares the story of the Tarahumara Indians. While most tribes like the Mayans and Aztecs are now few to none, the Tarahumara Indians are thriving in a hidden canyon, called Copper Canyon, in Mexico. McDougall shares something remarkable about the tribe; they don't run marathons but mega marathons, more than 100 miles! All of this without injury or any problems.

Christopher McDougall introduces the idea of barefoot running, which is what the tribe in Mexico utilizes. He says that people in modern times have been eager to cash and package something like shoes, always in the intention of improving. McDougall sympathizes with running shoes, sharing his frustrating past of constant injury.

Humans naturally have been running for thousands of years, so why is injury such a challenge? McDougall offers the fact that we haven't always been wearing shoes and that the shoes are the enemy in this sense. He shares that he now, in his mid-forties, has stopped wearing shoes and is injury-free. McDougall has a way to return to the way running is meant to be. He prescribes we back away from the running shoes, the packaging, the marketing, and all the urban marathons. He says we should get back to the playfulness and “nakedness” that has made the Tarahumara one of the healthiest groups of people of their time.

From my personal experience with injury, I find this Ted Talk very interesting and unique. I have always been told how important the right pair of running shoes are, so for McDougall to say that running shoes are half the battle of injury surprised me. I will, however, continue on running in my beloved trainers.

 
To view the Ted Talk click here:
http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_mcdougall_are_we_born_to_run