...

[Iain Olivier]

As a runner that has always run in "proper" running shoes, it certainly has been an eye opener reading born to run.

 

 

Very good read , hard to put down.

Thanks to this thread, I also read Born to Run over the weekend... Amazing! What an awesome book! Great story in itself. I will recommend the book to anyone, barefoot running fan or not. Although be warned, it will be hard to not see the light once you have read this...

[Guest agteros]

...

Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[Wyatt Earp]

So I just finished my 10 km. run in just under 39 minutes, I was shocked as I have not done that pace in many, many moons, but I think I achieved it as I actually reflected on The Book Born to Run when I started my run and found myself getting rather frustrated with McDougall.

 

This is what triggered it off.

 

As I leave the complex the one dude looks at my foot gloves and starts smiling from ear to ear, he then says to me "keep the Spirit of Kenya alive"

So in that first km. I think of all the great Kenyan marathon runners, I then wonder why they don't get a heavy punt in the book.

 

I start thinking how McDougall goes on this absolutely crazy man hunt for a white horse on two legs.

This horse knows secrets of the "greatest ultra endurance athletes in the world" a tribe called the Tarahumara Indians.

 

I then think back of the Kenyans then Comrades and how dominant the African continent is in this discipline.

I even take my thoughts further and I reflect on the office executives and regular Joe's who run a crazy race between two towns in Natal, I go even further thinking of the average guys doing races Like Epic, J2C, CTP, Sani2C to name a few.

 

I then think that all these guys are great endurance athletes, and I start realising that the greatest endurance athletes of all time is not a hidden tribe in Mexico, but actually an entire continent, a continent of hard individuals with minds so strong that all the explosives in the world can't sway them.

 

I then think that the head of our tribe (continent) is a kid known as the Sandman, a kid who goes to a town called Leadville, a race the Tarahumara were taken to so that they could win and show the world their super powers.

This kid, known as Sandman doesn't just win the Leadville event he sets one of the fastest top three times in the history of the event, he happens to do all this with a competitive running career spanning over three years.

 

I then think to myself that McDougall wasted his time, he didn't need to chase a two legged white horse, he didn't need to disappear in to some secretly hidden mountains of Mexico.

No sir, he will not have to look very far for his next book to find the greatest endurance runner of all time and his tribe.

 

Now not to take anything away from the Tarahumara, but my conclusion is this.

It's quite simple ,the King Ryan Sandes and the greatest tribe of endurance athletes are all very humble people, right here to be found on the Continent of Africa.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Dangle

[Thug]

First off, that's a brilliant time Ant ! Dof's cap in awe !!

 

Secondly, what you say is probably correct that the greatest ultramarathon runners are to be found on our doorstep but I think that the attrraction to Chris Mcdougall was that fact that the Tarahumara ran in nothing more than leather sandals and were known not to have common running injuries that plagues us that run in "normal" running shoes.

 

I have no doubt though that should the Kenyans / Eithopians have concentrated there efforts on the longer distance races and maintained their barefoot running style which they grew up with, they would undoubtedly been the kings of the ultradistances.

 

The Sandman though is phenomenal and one I would probably describe as a freak (in the nicest possible way of course) in so far as what he has achieved in his short career and no doubt will achieve in the future.

[Shebeen]

The Sandman though is phenomenal and one I would probably describe as a freak (in the nicest possible way of course) in so far as what he has achieved in his short career and no doubt will achieve in the future.

 

don't get me wrong here, but there's quite a bit of hype around the sandman. apparently he has quite a following with the highschool girls too, should see them on the trails soon.

I think what ryan has done is pretty extraordinary, but it's not a mainstream sport.

Desert marathons are pretty stoopid, not many go to actually win - most of the field are there to compete and maybe see if they can finish.

Leadville 100 is probably bigger as a bike race, just had a peak at the results. On the frontpage, it's ryan out front, a mexican in 37th and 43 yanks(most of them from colorado).

 

He's one of the big fish in a very small pool of elite ultra marathoners. it's becoming a big sport and i think you'll find our friends from east africa dominating it when the prize money makes it worth their while. going to be interesting to follow what he does. I'm more impressed by the achievements of someone like greg minnaar or conrad, but ryan has made a name for himself in a very short time - credit to him for that.

[Wyatt Earp]

First off, that's a brilliant time Ant ! Dof's cap in awe !!

 

Secondly, what you say is probably correct that the greatest ultramarathon runners are to be found on our doorstep but I think that the attrraction to Chris Mcdougall was that fact that the Tarahumara ran in nothing more than leather sandals and were known not to have common running injuries that plagues us that run in "normal" running shoes.

 

I have no doubt though that should the Kenyans / Eithopians have concentrated there efforts on the longer distance races and maintained their barefoot running style which they grew up with, they would undoubtedly been the kings of the ultradistances.

 

I doubt I will see that time soon again

Don't get me wrong, the allure and the mysticism around the book, is the oddness and humility of the Tarahumara, let's also not forget our very own Bushmen.

What I am saying is that we as a continent are great endurance athletes and the next time McDougall does a book, his story can be found right here on our continent.

 

don't get me wrong here, but there's quite a bit of hype around the sandman. apparently he has quite a following with the highschool girls too, should see them on the trails soon.

I think what ryan has done is pretty extraordinary, but it's not a mainstream sport.

Desert marathons are pretty stoopid, not many go to actually win - most of the field are there to compete and maybe see if they can finish.

Leadville 100 is probably bigger as a bike race, just had a peak at the results. On the frontpage, it's ryan out front, a mexican in 37th and 43 yanks(most of them from colorado).

He's one of the big fish in a very small pool of elite ultra marathoners. it's becoming a big sport and i think you'll find our friends from east africa dominating it when the prize money makes it worth their while. going to be interesting to follow what he does. I'm more impressed by the achievements of someone like greg minnaar or conrad, but ryan has made a name for himself in a very short time - credit to him for that.

 

Firstly with Vanessa Haywood on his side, I think a little high school girl is the last attraction to him.

Secondly ,the Leadville trail run was held for the first time in 1983 and carries a lot more prestige than the MTB race.

 

Your last statement there that I highlighted carries a bit of a loophole in the argument.

 

We could easily argue the same around the likes of Rossi and Scumacher.

 

That small pond is that small because the rest of us who think we are great get dropped along the way and only the real elite of the elite are to be found in this supposed small pond, very much as it is with Minnaar and the Caveman.

[Wyatt Earp]

I reckon at the next Leadville, when the Tarahumara line up next to Sandes, this is what they will be thinking.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPJKuygePHk

[Guest agteros]

...

Edited October 30, 2011 by agteros

[Thug]

I did my longest run yesterday in the Bikilas.

 

 

Went out and did a 12k run in the Inov8 x233's, came home and changed into the VFF's and then did another 4k's on and off-road.

 

I think the fact that I changed my running style almost immediately to a mid/forefoot strike after I bought the Inov8's has helped the transition to the Vibrams.

 

So far so good.

 

Will attempt my first 8k TT tomorrow night in the Inov8's and see what sort of pace I can maintain.

[SwissVan]

What happened to the barefoot running thread and Agteros??

 

Recent update on the Science of Sport blog reagrding the barefoot running debate:

 

"Natural Running – advantages and disadvantages. A Round Table Discussion".

 

 

The protagonists in the debate were:

•Prof Daniel Howell, an anatomy professor from Liberty (USA), known as the "barefoot professor"

•Simon Barthold, who formerly worked as a podiatrist but who now works in biomechanics and is Asics global research consultant

•Prof Benno Nigg, one of the world's leading biomechanists

•Dr Mathias Marquard, a clinician and running coach (who would go on to become the voice of reason in many of the more hostile aspects of the debate, as I'll describe!)

•Prof Daniel Lieberman, evolutionary biologist from Harvard, who as you may know, recently published the Nature studies looking at how habitually shod and barefoot runners differ, and who wrote a key paper on how humans are adapted (skeletally and physiologically) to run long distances

 

For more go to

 

http://www.sportsscientists.com/

[Slowbee]

Agteros asked for his account to be deleted, Swiss.

[SwissVan]

Agteros asked for his account to be deleted, Swiss.

 

Oooee : hope he's ok and not being investigated by the hawks or summfing?

 

Thanks Slowbee