Interview: Christopher McDougall – Author of “Born to Run”

Chris, thank you for joining the RunColo Interview Series, can you tell us about yourself, mainly as a runner and a writer?

As a writer, I’ve reported for everyone from the New York Times to Runners World. As a runner, I was a wreck. Every year, something else on my body went haywire. I had ruptures, tears, tendonitis, fasciitis, etc. I was learning Latin just by trying to figure out what was wrong this time. Every doctor I saw told me the same thing: Quit. Only after I trekked down into the Copper Canyons and explored the world of the Tarahumara Indians did I learn how to make my legs injury-proof. I learned how to love running and not get hurt. And the irony? The new kind of running I discovered is the oldest kind on earth.

You have just written Born to Run can you tell us about the book?

Born to Run is kind of three books in one. It’s an adventure story about an amazing race down in the Copper Canyons which pitted some of the best ultrarunners of our time (I’m talking Scott Jurek, Jenn Shelton, Billy “Bonehead”Barnett) against the best ultrarunners of all time, the Tarahumara. Born to Run is also the tale of three scientists who are revealing some of the most exciting discoveries about the human body ever made. Finally, it’s the chronicle of an underground uprising by wild young runners who want to take running back from the moneymakers who are ruining it.

What type of shoe do you run in?

Vibram FiveFingers, mostly (I’m wearing a sweet pair of black KSOs right now). Otherwise, any old super-thin racing flats.

I constantly hear advertisements from Good Feet Arch Support with Ed McCaffery (Former Broncos Wide Receiver) touting the benefits of proper insoles and orthotics, is it possible that Ed doesn’t know what he is talking about?

All junk. Complete garbage. Look, the strongest weight-bearing design ever created is the arch. The more you load an arch from above, the stronger it gets because its parts mesh together. No engineer on earth would ever stick a support under an arch, yet we do it all the time with our feet. Show me one study that shows that any shoe or insole does anything to prevent injuries. You’ll never see it, because it doesn’t exist.

What’s your opinion on the movement towards minimalist shoes, in particular the Nike Free and the Vibram FiveFingers? Also, love to hear your opinion on Newton Running Shoes as they are a Colorado Company?

About four years ago, I interviewed some barefoot runners for an article about the Nike Frees for the New York Times. The barefoot guys all told me, “Forget it.” The Free is a scam. It’s nothing like running barefoot. It has an arch support, a raised heel, and a really squishy sole. I thought they were being a little hard-assed and extremist, but I’ve come to realize they were totally right: the Free doesn’t come close to barefooting. I’ve never tried the Newtons, but the whole idea of paying 200 bucks for a shoe that’s supposed to feel like no shoe at all is pretty hilarious. Of course, the FiveFingers ain’t cheap, but at least they do what they’re supposed to do: they let your foot do whatever it wants without getting cut by rocks or stuck with thorns.

In your article titled The Painful Truth about trainers: Are Running Shoes a Waste of Money? You site a study showing that runners wearing top of the line trainers were 123 percent more likely to get hurt than runners wearing cheap shoes. One thing that I have observed is that my friends who are serious runners tend to run in shoes that cost $80-$100 and that the top of the line shoes tend to be worn by people who work out at the gym and who are not as serious of runners, but in my opinion they are buying those shoes for aesthetics reason. Thus, I’m not sure if you can compare the two groups unless a double blind study was done. Can you please address my claim?

I interviewed a former Nike shoe engineer who told me that 85% of all running shoes are sold to people who don’t run. That’s why they weld on all that fancy garbage it’s all eye candy. Think about it if you weigh 180 pounds, and your body weight is hitting the ground at ten times that force, what on earth is a little bit of foam going to do against 1800 pounds of torque? Absolutely nothing.

In that same article you mention that running injuries have increased since the 1970’s and I have also read those statistics. However, I’m not sure if you can compare runners from the 1970’s with runners of today. I am guessing that the runners in the 1970’s were lightweight and more biomechanically efficient than today’s runners. Also compounding the difference is that the popularity of running has boomed, which has in turned decreased the average marathon time due to a larger sample size of less athletic people venturing into the sport. Thus, I think one could even make the argument that the rate of injuries only increasing a slight amount might be boon for the shoe industry. Your thoughts?

If running shoes were a drug, they’d be yanked off the market. What if you were selling an artery-clearing drug and 7 out of every 10 people who took it every year had coronaries? Running shoes exist for one reason and one reason only: to prevent injuries! If they’re not doing that one job, then why buy them? Really, it’s a weak argument to say, Well, they’re not making things a little worse. And do you know why runners in the 60s were more biomechanically efficient? Because they weren’t wearing fancy running shoes! I also don’t buy the claim that suddenly, all the wrong people are running these days and that’s why they’re getting hurt. People all over the world have been running for 2 million years. Only since the dawn of the modern running shoe has the modern running injury been an issue.

When a runner runs barefoot they land on the ball of their feet, the area with the most cushioning. However, when a runner puts on shoes, more often than not they land on their heel. Is it possible that perhaps the body instinctively knows that it should land on the spot with the most cushioning or is it ideal to land on your midfoot?

Exactly. Strip off the bulky shoes, and your body will instinctively know exactly what to do. Jump off a chair, and what do you land on, your toes or your heels? That’s what running is, a controlled series of jumps. The problem with all that heel cushioning in running shoes is that it allows people to confuse running with walking, which is a very different movement. Running is NOT just fast walking.

I’ve read statements from the minimalist crowd that you should go barefoot as much as possible, including having your children go barefoot as much as possible to ensure strong feet as they age. When I suffered from plantar fasciitis a few years ago, one of the things that I was told was to never go barefoot inside. Since then I have developed a habit of always wearing Crocs when I am inside my house as the hardwood floors/tiles tend to make my feet sore after prolonged periods of time going barefoot. Would you recommend that people start going barefoot as much as possible, even indoors?

Absolutely. I also had plantars fasciitis for nearly two years. I made the same round of doctors and podiatrists, put myself through the same hopeless treatment of insoles, sleep splints, stability shoes, calf-stretching, and nothing worked. Only one thing helped me, I got rid of my running shoes and began running on the balls of my feet. I was shocked to discover that the movement was the medicine. I didn’t need to heal before I could use my naked feet using my naked feet healed me. Believe me “get naked” and you’ll get better.

Running Shoe companies often state that you should replace your shoes after 400 miles? Do you feel the same way or is this a marketing ploy to get us to buy shoes more often?

Yeah, isn’t that an interesting coincidence that you’re urged to replace your shoes every 350-500 miles, in other words every 6 months, which is just when the shoe companies are rolling out their new fall or spring line-up and Runners World is splashing out its latest shoe review? What a joke. Did you ever read a shoe review that said, “Nah, this is a hunk of crap. Don’t buy it.” One of the greatest and most resilient ultrarunners of all time was Arthur Newton. He was still breaking 100-mile records in his fifties. Know how often he changed his running shoes? Every five thousand miles.

Finally, I hear that you are coming to Colorado soon; can you please tell us the dates you will be here and your itinerary?

I just arrived in Colorado today. I’ll be in Denver and Boulder, talking about the Tarahumara and barefooting and anthropology at these locations:

Monday, May 11, Denver: Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax Ave, at 7:30 PM
Wednesday, May 13, in Boulder: Boulder Running Company, 7 PM