Sports Biz
- Yankees Team Signed Ball Selling For $3,500
- Moon Hopes To Complete Amazing Story
- These Poker Stories Are No Bluff
- Did Matsui Make Contract Money Last Night?
- Adidas Out At UCF After MJ's Son Wears Jordans
- If Yanks Win, Merchandise Will Fly Off Shelves
- Final World Series Games Big Money Makers
- What I Got Wrong About Keflezighi
- Marathon's Headline Win Is Empty
- New Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts Goes One-on-One With "SportsBiz"
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Health-Care Reform Does Little To Contain Costs: Analysts
- Home Prices Sank Further In Most Parts of US in 3rd Quarter
- 'Peak Oil' Closer Than IEA Forecasts Show: Report
- News Corp. May Pull Content From Google Searches
- Jobless Rate to Hit 10.5%, Keeping Fed in Box: Poll
- If Mickey Mouse Has to Change—What Does That Say About You?
- Nov. 10: S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Treasurys Head Lower as Auction Fails to Impress
- America Is On Sale
- Trader Tax Sound Off
- Playing Activision and Other Video Game Stocks: Analyst
- Expect 'At Least' Another 10-15% Upside: Fund Manager
- If Mickey Mouse Has to Change—What Does That Say About You?
- Nov. 10: S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Passive Job Search Strategies
- Back Off, Regulators!
- America Is On Sale
- Warren Buffett and the Crisis: 'Brilliant Moves Interspersed with Some Surprising Errors'
- Schork Oil Outlook: More Strength in Crude
- Home Prices Decline Further In Most Parts of US
- Sen. Dodd Hopes to Confirm Bernanke by Christmas
- Jobless Rate to Hit 10.5%, Keeping Fed in Box: Poll
- Credit Card Firms Squeeze Customers as Rules Loom
- 'Thriller' Art: Warhol's Jackson Work Could Net $700,000
- Health Reform Does Little to Contains Costs: Analysts
- Ponzi Proceeds: Bidding on Madoff's Toys
- Quiz: Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- New Lows for Stocks Next Year: Equities Bear
Text Size 
Sports Business Reporter
I'm a reader. I estimate I've read well over 1,000 books in my lifetime.
And for what it's worth "Born To Run" by Christopher McDougall is the best book I've ever read.
I don't want to summarize the book too much because it will take away from McDougall's brilliance, but I'll summarize it enough so that you'll know if you are the type of person who would appreciate this.
 |
Born to Run |
It's a book about the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon in Mexico, who are called the world's greatest distance runners. The narrative gets into how they got this way, why you've likely never heard of them and what the author went through to get close to these people who don't respond to our Western culture.
As you read, you'll ask yourself a million times, "Is this really happening? That's because the author manages to befriend an American man who essentially becomes an honorary Tarahumara member.
The climax of the book leads to a race between the Tarahumara runners, one of the world's greatest ultramarathoners and a group of obsessed runners, including the author, who put themselves through torture to be able to say that they participated in a race that might never happen again.
What makes McDougall's storytelling so successful is the weaving of his narrative. He knows when the reader needs a break, so he opines about why more expensive running shoes are actually worse for you and introduces you to the people who believe that man is a species that was built to run.
I wish I could say that I found a diamond in the rough, but I didn't. This book, which came out earlier this month, is at No. 63 on Amazon's [AMZN
Loading...
()
] best seller list. That in itself is a remarkable feat given that you'd think the running niche might exclude some potential buyers.
On the other hand, a book like this should do well in the world we now live in. Unlike books about Madoff, Alex Rodriguez or the world financial crisis, you can't find this story anywhere else.
More Sports Biz— National Spelling Bee:
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes