TIME

Christopher McDougall

SUBMIT: ONE HAS NEVER REALLY GONE OUT for a proper run unless one has shuffled through a cornfield in Amish country, dodging a donkey who’s trying to kick you with its hind legs while passing gas in your face. That’s where I’ve found myself on this bright late-September morning in Peach Bottom, Pa., on a trot with author Christopher McDougall, his wife Mika and a trio of asses. McDougall is the author of this century’s seminal book on running, the 2009 best seller which tracked an indigenous group of ultramarathoners from the remote canyons of northern Mexico; their minimalist style helped spark the barefoot-running craze. has sold over 3 million copies, popped up in episodes of and and made

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