LOCK HAVEN - Chris McDougall, author of the national bestseller "Born to Run," will visit Lock Haven University for a discussion and book-signing at 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Price Performance Center. His appearance is sponsored by PA Trail Dogs and the LHU Athletic Training Club.
McDougall is a former war correspondent for the Associated Press and is now a contributing editor for Men's Health.
A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Men's Journal and New York. He does his own running among the Amish farms around his home in rural Pennsylvania.
McDougall will talk about his own running experiences with the Tarahumara Indians in the deadly Copper Canyons of Mexico. He also will explain how he went from not being able to run to completing a 50-mile trail race.
After the talk, he will sign copies of "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen." Those interested are advised to buy copies beforehand at D. Dashem Books, 109 E. Main St. ((893-0260, ddbooks@kcnet.org). Also, a limited supply will be available at the event for $22.
The talk will last about 45 minutes, with the book-signing immediately following.
McDougall's desire to express more in his articles eventually lead him away from the AP, he stated. He entered the world of magazine writing, and books have followed.
"Outside (magazine) sent me to the North Sea to try my hand at an ancient Scottish tradition of city-wide, no-rules rugby," he stated. "The New York Times Magazine hired me to track down a fugitive Mexican pop star named Gloria Trevi (a bizarre experience which led to my first book, "Girl Trouble"), and New York magazine had me write a cover story about why America hasn't been hit by another terrorist attack since September 11."
Men's Health has given him the freedom to write about wide-ranging subjects including the Tarahumara, who "run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it."
And, they wear only minimal sandals - or nothing at all on their feet - while doing it, according to the author.
Craig Fleming, owner of Haven Shoes at 115 E. Main St. and a member of PA Trail Dogs, said McDougall seemed very open to the idea of visiting Lock Haven.
Fleming sent information about the Bald Eagle Megatransect and the Hyner View Trail Challenge (he is the race director) to McDougall, who lives in rural Pennsylvania.
"I'm eager to meet him," Fleming said. "I do a little barefoot training myself, but as a trail runner, I find our trails are so rocky, I usually have a shoe on my foot."
Although he does not stock them at Haven Shoes, Fleming said a variety of modern products for minimalist runners are available, including what look like Neoprene toe socks.
PA Trail Dogs plans a regular speakers series, set to kick off with a presentation on pose running by Martha Michael of Lemont.
Michael is a certified instructor of the technique that encourages runners to work with, not against, natural forces like gravity. She also advocates minimalist running.
Fleming said he has seen the benefits of these techniques firsthand.
His wife, Jen, went through knee issues three years ago after running the Megatransect, he related. She was to have surgery but Michael taught her to change her gait and running style. Since then, her running has actually improved and the idea of surgery has been shelved, he said.
"My wife went from being a decent runner to being a winning long-distance runner," Fleming said with pride.
Jen was the second woman to cross the finish of the 2008 Megatransect and the third in 2009, putting her in the top 30 finishers overall for the past two years.
Details of the speaker series will be announced.
- By WENDY STIVER
