Reviews

Earlier this year, I decided that I want to run a half-marathon. Got into this book after Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running", and it's a completely different read. It's interesting, to say to the least, since I got to learn a bit about the Tarahumara tribe, the running shoes manufacturers, and by design, the human body is not optimized for running. Though, the book structure is confounding. I got lost between the pages while he was waving his personal tales, with anecdotes from the tribal runners and some statistics to make look cool.
In short, read Murakami for personal memoir and research papers for actual science, not this book.

treebjork's review against another edition

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2.0

Not what I expected. I wish he had more research, rather than anecdotal evidence, to back up his claims about the benefits of barefoot running. But I really enjoyed reading about the ultramarthoners and learning about their motivational, and learning more about the Mexican tribes that base their culture on long-distance running. This book has motivated me to try more endurance running -- maybe even a half marathon, if I can train for one without injury.

reduck's review against another edition

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4.0

Not a fan of barefoot running but the story of Caballo Blanco and the Tarahumara was very interesting.

pilateschick's review against another edition

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5.0

Dear Christopher, leave out the expletives. You do a superb job creating a masculine identity without it. The rest deserves 5 stars. Utterly fascinating! Spellbinding, story after story.

aeclark12's review against another edition

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5.0

A great read -- terrific story, compellingly told.

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