I both credit and blame the Author Christopher McDougall’s seminal book, “Born to Run”, as I’m sure many many runners do as well, for first reigniting that spark in me to pursue running seriously again, and recognizing issues that I needed to fix with my atrocious running form that had always impeded me from doing so. A decade ago, I went from someone that could barely run 6 Miles without experience full body aches and pains, to completing Hundred Mile races in the Mountains 5 years after reading “Born to Run”, and further dreaming if it would ever be possible for someone like me to tackle some of the legendary footraces in the Mountains that was depicted in that book. Fast-forward a few years later, and I’m blaming Christopher McDougall for sending me down a deep rabbit hole for 5 years that left me a burnt-out husk of runner for pursuing Ultrarunning with a sort of mad religious zeal, haha… Probably for that reason, I skipped McDougall’s follow up book, “Natural Born Heroes”, because I was just not in the mood to read a book about People doing incredible physical feats, after being so burned out from Ultras and Mountain races.
So, when McDougall later started posting articles in the New York Times about his attempts to rehabilitate a sickly Donkey named Sherman that he rescued from an Animal Hoarder, I was intrigued by the Burros journey from a state of near death and purposelessness to actively recovering through running and finding a new encouraging community of farm animals and humans to belong to. Also, while I was doing Ultras and Mountain races, I considered the humble Donkey as a spirit animal that I would adopt; they’re slow, steady, sturdy, and incredibly stubborn beast, pretty much exactly how I felt on Ultras, I may not have been the fastest, but stubbornness was my fuel to outlast races. After a handful of articles following Sherman’s rehabilitation, McDougall went quiet for a year or so, until, as I should have guessed it, he was releasing his latest book, “Running with Sherman: The Donkey with a Heart of a Hero”.
I found many parallels with McDougall’s two books, “Born to Run” and “Running with Sherman”, the former started off with the Author’s search to diagnose why he couldn’t run more than a couple miles without getting injured and continued with his long quest to improve at running in order to enter into the legendary Caballo Blanco 50 Mile race, while the latter involved a sickly Donkey that he was attempting to rehabilitate through running, and by the end of the book to ultimately compete in The World Championship Pack Burro Race in Fairplay, Colorado; in both journeys, he explores what drives us, both Human and Animal, to actively seek out that simple freedom of movement most of us take for granted until we can’t do it any longer, in going out for a run. Along the way, deeper meaning into running, health, and community is explored, and what we’ve lost through our mostly sedentary and isolating modern lives; our bodies and minds were built for movement, without it, we’ll go stagnant, sick, and eventually waste away as discussed in “Born to Run”, and further touched upon in “Running with Sherman”. Whereas “Born to Run” was more Human focused, “Running with Sherman” goes deeper into commenting on the Ancestral bonds with our furry companions that we’ve relied upon for a millennium of Human history; especially when it comes to our mental health, with insightful passages about how therapy animals can calm our anxieties better than any drug, how children on the Autism spectrum can function better working with animals, and how even whole communities like the Amish that have to learn how to co-operate and rely on their animals on a day to day basis for survival, are on the whole, a more empathetic and kind society.
Speaking of the Amish, their parallel similarities with the Native Mexican tribe, the Tarahumara, as depicted in “Born to Run”, were striking; both societies are largely rural insular communities that eschew most aspects of modern society, and rely on tough honest physical labor that are highly dependent on one another to survive. Without the isolation and envy of modern society, and with a deep reliance on community to see them through their rigorous ways of life, they both suffer little in the ills so many of us are inflicted with; with our deteriorating physical health's, debilitating anxiety and depression, and sky-rocketing cases of drug abuse, suicides, and murder...it almost makes you want to sell everything you have and head straight to Amish Country. Fortunately, you may not have to, as both running theme books delve into, many debilitating aspects of life can be addressed through running, or other physical activities, and explains why we Humans can go out of our ways to pursue such physical torture. In running we find both physical and mental well being, in running we can find a welcoming community to belong too, and finally in running we can find a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement that always seem so far out of reach.
Books like “Born to Run” and “Running with Sherman” helps me understand my relentless need to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and gives my pursuits in running and racing a sense of purpose, rather than some mindless task in masochism that I choose to partake in. So, if you’re looking for that spark of inspiration to kick start or reignite your need to get off the couch and go for a run, I couldn’t recommend both books enough, as I’m pretty sure everyone I meet can attest to. Also, if you love Animals and have a curiosity about Donkeys, in particular, “Running with Sherman” is a fascinating book to geek out on, covering everything you could possibly ever want to know about these magnificent and stubborn beast; I definitely dream of owning a Donkey like Sherman some day, but considering I live in a cramped Apartment, maybe a Cat for starters.
