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Chris McDougall
Running, Bodysurfing, and the Magic of Human-Animal Relationships

Christopher McDougall is a former war correspondent and the author of Born to Run, the most popular book ever written about the sport of running. McDougall has also explored the ancient art of the hero in Natural Born Heroes and animal-human partnerships in Running with Sherman. He’s currently on a new project that involves big waves, deep bruises, and the occasional shark.

For more info about Chris, check out his website.

Books, Beaches, and Donkeys mentioned in the episode: 

06:00  Chris’ wife upped her running volume and was dealing with super achy feet so Chris bought her a fresh copy of Ready to Run and she says her feet are so much better just from upping her water intake per Kelly’s advice in the book; Chris might have told her before, but she had to hear it from Kelly
08:30  Often the simple solution is a better place to start than the nuclear option
08:54  Ivan Illich; We have handed over our agency and see doctors for things we definitely don’t need to see doctors for
09:28  Ready to Run is a full homage to Born to Run
10:44  Barefoot Ted; Caballo Blanco; The Tarahumara; Eric Orten
11:24  The secret sauce of Born to Run: unknown; And what worked for Born to Run didn’t exactly work for Natural Born Heroes, Chris’ second book
12:55  There is a scene in Brittany Runs a Marathon that perfectly describes the Born to Run audience
13:58  Kelly was a heel striker his whole life until he read Born to Run; Brian MacKenzie; Nicholas Romanov
14:58  Natural Born Heroes is a favorite of so many, including Kelly and Laird Hamilton
15:54  Becoming a Supple Leopard took off unexpectedly much like Born to Run
18:29  The story behind Running with Sherman, Chris’ third book
20:00  Chris was an overseas correspondent (for AP) covering the massacres in Rwanda
21:38  After their first child was born they moved from downtown Philadelphia to Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania in the middle of Amish country
23:05  Chris’ daughter requested a donkey for her birthday which is how they ended up rescuing Sherman
28:15  When Sherman arrived at their farm they realized how bad of shape he was in
30:20  Alexandra Horowitz, Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
31:20  Chris ran into misconceptions about the Amish and their animals
34:05  The concept of Environment/Organism mismatch from the book The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease by Daniel Lieberman; E.O. Wilson
37:52  John Berardi recommended that one of his clients struggling to lose weight get a dog – the client ended up losing weight just by getting out and walking and caring for the dog
40:14  Sherman: where is he now?
41:00  During Covid, Chris and his family moved to Hawaii, where his wife grew up
42:48  Chris rehabilitated Sherman and then they trained and competed in the The World Championship Pack Burro Race because Chris was told that to keep a donkey he had to give it a job
45:43  Matthew McConaughey was originally set to star in the Born to Run movie project; Currently, Chris Bender (The Hangover, American Pie Franchise) is working to turn it into a TV series
46:47  Chris’ new project teaser: Big Waves, Deep Bruises, and the Occasional Shark
47:53  Chris thought he was a great bodysurfer in Hawaii until he met a 65 year old dude at a pick-up basketball game that body surfs Pipeline; Sandy Beach
49:26  Laird’s iconic wave at Teahupoo
50:22  Chris is working on an exploration of bodysurfing and is out practicing with some veterans at Point Panic, Pipeline, Sandy’s
50:34  100 Foot Wave; Garrett McNamara
51:07  Kelly and Juliet went out to Lumahai on Laird’s recommendation and Kels came back in thinking he crushed it and Juliet says, “You’re just not as good as Laird at bodysurfing”
52:32  Kalani Lattanzi bodysurfs Nazare; Kalani: Gift from Heaven
56:38  Chris’ Website

Full Transcript

Sponsors

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