Running with Sherman
In a nutshell
Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, tells the story of rescuing Sherman, an abused donkey, with whom he finally lines up at the start of a race. Classic McDougall, with the plot carried along a clear line. Reviewed by Michal Uriča.
Who it's for: Fans of McDougall and stories about animals.
This review was written by Michal Uriča and originally appeared in Slovak.
Born to Run, the runner’s bible, which I assume needs no introduction. But its author, Christopher McDougall, has other interesting titles to his name too. You may know Natural Born Heroes, a fascinating look back at the resistance on Crete during the Second World War, where of course running, moving in the mountains, physical fitness and heroism play an essential role.
McDougall’s writing style is very distinctive. The plot moves forward along a clear line, delicately interwoven with threads of side stories. Sometimes the connection is obvious, sometimes the reader has to think a little about what the links mean. There’s no shortage of history, descriptions of places, personal stories or research findings.
Today we’ll look at his latest work so far, Running with Sherman. I admit I didn’t read the book; I listened to it as an audiobook. To be completely honest, I had it in the app for quite a while after buying it before I got round to listening. Somehow I couldn’t get my head round why I should listen to a book whose main hero is a donkey (the animal, just to be clear). On the one hand, I sensed that after his previous work Christopher McDougall wouldn’t put out just anything, but to tell the truth, that animal hero still didn’t sit right with me.
Christopher McDougall with Sherman - MATT ROTH/NEW YORK TIMES/EYEVINE
But, and here I’ll start from the end, after listening to the book I was very pleasantly surprised and in the end I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot, soaked up plenty of interesting information, and above all the story is catchy and powerful. It takes the reader along the path by which Christopher McDougall got into farming and settled into that way of life. How he came by a half-dead donkey and nursed it into a racing donkey.
Are you asking yourself: a racing donkey? Yes, in the USA, mainly in Colorado, a tradition of races with donkeys arose and still lives on. A runner and a donkey, loaded with a miner’s basic gear, tackle a tough mountain course together. And if you know the famous ultra event Leadville 100, you should know that Leadville has also hosted, for many decades, an event where pairs of runner and donkey compete side by side. Here’s a short clip from Salomon TV, where Salomon sent two of its top runners to this race. Max King and Ryan Sandes took part in this unusual run:
Many stories unfold in Running with Sherman. You’ll learn, for example, about the Amish community and their running abilities, even though they look like a people frozen in the time when their ancestors arrived in America. The story is full of dramatic twists, sensitive passages about animals living alongside people, injuries, falls and comebacks. The plot flows smoothly and the side paths complement the overall picture brilliantly.
I definitely recommend Running with Sherman to add some variety and broaden your horizons. I’m not aware of a Slovak or Czech translation yet, but I believe we’ll get one too.
Michal Uriča, startovaciaciara.sk
The review is republished with the author’s permission from the blog startovaciaciara.sk. It’s not just a blog but also an excellent Slovak podcast about running, healthy living, overcoming our weaknesses and everything we think about while running. Michal invites guests to the studio together with his partner Miloš Haleček. Guests have included Jirka Čípa, Daniel Orálek, Marian Priadka, but also politician and marathoner Mikuláš Dzurinda and philosopher Martin Šimečka. From time to time there are guests from abroad, such as Jason Koop or Adharanand Finn. I can honestly recommend almost every episode. Thanks to Startovacia čiara, I started looking forward to every long car journey again. And thanks to them I came across the books Ako som prekonal sám seba and O čom sníva raketový pes.
