What do a dog collar, half a bottle of whiskey, an old fashioned wedding dress, an iPad, a new Nalgene, a bra, a tambourine, a coffee cup and a hula hoop have in common? 

These are (some of) the remnants left by their exhausted former owners after spending four days at the Born to Run Ultra Marathon Extravaganza on a beautiful private ranch in Los Olivos, CA.

Reading Christopher McDougall’s recent article titled “Born to Be Barefoot” was a great pleasure. His article succinctly confirms and validates for me the worthiness of the pursuit of personal understanding through self-experimentation and hints from the stories and traditions of our most ancient ancestors.

Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” has moved a lot of us to reexamine what it means...