Obvious things are at times the most difficult to see. For me, Born To Run is not so much about running than it is about choosing freedom above the commercial temptations.

Caballo (a mysterious high land runner, one of the chief characters – webmaster) got the offer of a lifetime. The North Face, the popular outdoor sports company, offered to become his race sponsor. Caballo’s future, and his race’s, would finally be secure.

Caballo thought it over. For about a minute.

“No, thanks,” he decided. “I don’t want anyone to do anything except come run, party, dance, eat, and hang with us. Running isn’t about making people to buy stuff. Running should be free, man.”

Running for the sake of running – it looks to me like a quintessence. Well, running might be one of the most liberating activities, and the most democratic ones, too. It does not require any specific equipment or premises other than the nature itself.

But there can also be a lot of other activities for us to take part in. I mean, we all need something that we do enthusiastically without purpose any other than getting Joy from the very doing, and, potentially, sharing the Joy with other people.

Born To Run strongly supports the idea of running with the only reason – the running itself. And getting joy from that. It resonates with me. In my article The Magical Power Of Doing Things Without Reason, I have described how this approach works miracles for me.

Another great takeaway from this unusual book would be using of simple shoes as opposed to those designed for special comfort and protection. It is proved again and again what I knew already – the overprotection works in the opposite manner. The more you protect your legs, your feet, your body, the more vulnerable it becomes.

Our body needs challenges. The challenges strengthen it and teach it to be prepared for challenges.

Our body is clever. I think it is too seldom that we count with that.

If you run in soft upholstered shoes, it may feel comfortable in the beginning. But then your bones gradually “forget” how to be strong. Bones grow weak, and trauma risk increases.

I remember a lecture of a wise doctor. He presented a new discovery of science – medicine that our body produces for itself. That is a medicine that can’t be bought for money. And will never be. But it is the most efficient remedy against a large number of modern illnesses like diabetes, osteoporosis and many others.

Human bones produce that medicine. The bones start producing it when rammed, stretched, twisted. And that is a very fresh discovery.

Now when that is discovered, I think all the people will go out and run, and exercise – because they now know how to get great health.

But, hey, where are they, those all running and moving? It does not seem like the number of active people has significantly increased. I can still see those standing there and smoking. Why? Don’t they want to be healthy? Don’t they want to feel good? Don’t they want to get rid of their illnesses?

It looks to me like they don’t.

But who did not know that all the living things need to move? Who has not seen small children and dogs run their soul out just for the sake of running, just for fun? When did we lose that? Can we get that back?

I love to move. I don’t overprotect myself. Sometimes I do heavy steps when running. I ram my feet into the ground with force so that it shakes not only the leg, but the whole body of mine. At times, I do skipping rope, and I land heavily on purpose. I love that impact, and how it distributes all over my body.

And now when the scientist and doctor told me that it will produce the world’s best medicine in my body, I will do that even more enthusiastically. And then this book Born To Run, it said that the superathletes who run 100 miles with ease, that they never wear soft shoes! I won’t either.