I took this title from my Little Free Library because I remembered in the back of my head, somewhere, hearing that it was good, very good. Also, I'm a runner. But not an extreme endurance runner like those in the book. I'm one of those that is given a couple of sentences early on, those that kinda hate running, but do it in order to be able to eat/drink without worrying so much about it. Oh, and the runner's high. That's pretty nice, when it comes. 
 Born to Run starts off telling about the Tamahumara, a tribe living deep in the canyons of Mexico. I found it neat to learn about them and their culture, and their penchant for what most others would consider extreme running. Then the book veers off into talking about a race, the first of its kind, which would pit some of these Tamahumara against a few of the best extreme runners North America has to offer. The end of the book focuses exclusively on the race as well. 
 In between McDougall presents a lot of information. I liked the back story of the runners. Reading those made me feel like I was inside their head a little bit, and connected me with the 'characters' in the same way a really good sports movie will pull you in. 
 I was intrigued by the science presented that says humans are essentially born to be endurance runners. The whole part about how our ancestors must have (view spoiler)[ run down *antelopes* over long distances as a source of food (hide spoiler)] had me riveted. 
 There's also a lot of information sprinkled throughout about barefoot running. I bought into this so much and was so sold on the idea that for my next treadmill (probably blasphemy to many) run, I forewent shoes. And socks. And a mere two miles later my poor, tender, inexperienced toes and feet were blistered and shredded. Bah. I should've started off more slowly. 
 That may have killed my desire to run barefoot (though I still like the idea of the five-toe shoes), but it did not diminish my enjoyment of the book. It drags a bit in places, but finishes strong. Just like I did in my last 5k.