Tuesday 1 March 2011

Christopher McDougall: Are we born to run?




Summary:
In my video Christopher McDougall presents about human’s ability to run. He explained that the mankind has been running for 2 million years. Before the invention of tools people were hunting in an interesting way. They were running down animals in groups during hot days.  The reason why people were able to hunt down animals is that we have a unique ability to sweat. Sweating is a thing which no other mammal, on earth, can do at the same time while running. He also compared the modern humans with our predecessors. Our predecessors hadn’t have advanced technology like running shoes they were running bare foot. He gave an example of the Mexican Indian tribe Tarahumara which remained unchanged since the Stone Age. These people can run unbelievable distances 100 to 150 miles at once without special equipments. The reason why these people can run for long distances is unknown. Scientist in the Harvard and University of Utah are trying to figure out their secret. Christopher McDougall also discussed the endurance of modern men and women.  Modern women are not considered faster than men, but they are able to run longer distances than men.  Running was always part of human nature; people were running for long time. The modern technology spoiled people that we are not running anymore.

Respond:  

From my point of view, it reasonable that people in the past were able to run such a long distances. They weren’t surrounded with modern technological equipments like we are in the present. If they wanted to survive they had to figure out how to hunt down their pray. In their case running was in what  they were good at it; therefore, it was the best weapon for them. However, the modern mankind is more comfortable, we have special equipments which are making our lives easier. What surprised me in this video is the Tarahumara Indian tribe in Mexico, these people haven’t had changed for the last 1000 years, which is amazing. They can run really long distances. I think the reason why they can run such a long distances is that they are not using high technology. They are basically running everywhere which keeps their running endurance in a high level

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I completely agree with Peter's point of view. Because I also think that it is incredible how the Taruhama culture despite of all the technological improvements that have been happening around the world, haven’t changed in the last 1000 years. I think it is amazing how the human body works under some conditions. For example in the case of the Taruhama the human body is like an incredible machine which can run incredible distances. I think this is great because it show us some of the amazing things that humans are capable of doing. This is inspiring for me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I watched your video and I think it's fascinating.I've never wonder that running has a lot unsolvable mysteries like that. The mystery about the longer a women ran the stronger he got. How could this happen? Moreover, McDougall mentions about the Tarahumara tribe living near Cooper Canyon that they can run about 100-150 miles !!! Like you, I'm also impressed by how the humans can surprass their limitation.And I'm not sure about his opinion about running shoes. If running shoes makes people more likely to get injure, so what's the point of inventing them?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with Justin - fascinating video. Good choice!

    ReplyDelete