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. This year 1400 crazy runners, volunteers, and friends gathered for a bonanza of eating, drinking, dancing, camping, cartwheel contests, joke telling, more dancing, wrestling and also some running.

Luis Escobar aka Sheriff Escobar aka El Coyote is the master mind, race director, and ring leader of the ‘Greatest Show On Earth’ version of Ultra Marathons (Born to Run). As such, this event is truly beautifully chaotic. Each morning begins with blaring mariachi or disco music, followed shortly by beer miles, training runs, dancing, yoga, tamales, talent shows, meeting running legends like Scott Jurek and Raramuri, and lots of new friends who are just as crazy as you. Born to Run provides a rare opportunity to run miles upon miles through California’s glorious golden hills, filled with sunshine, fresh air and rattlesnakes. Just kidding, but itis really beautiful, and there are really rattlesnakes.

The famous champion Tarahumara runner Arnulfo Quimare doing what he does in his Mono Gordos.

This Event is especially dear to our LUNA hearts, as you may know our founder Barefoot Ted McDonald is featured in the book Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall! Our humble beginnings of running free in the most natural way possible echo throughout this event, and allows us to reconnect in person with the throngs of LUNA Tribe frolicking about and running through the hills. The last few years we’ve also had the privilege of having Manuel Luna (our company’s name sake) at our booth! Coming all the way from Mexico to reconnect with his gringo friends, he even made and fit many people with donated sandal materials, allowing him to earn enough money to cover his trip and bring home a seasons worth of profits gained in one day making sandals among his friends. We hope to see him again soon!

 LUNA Sandals' name sake Manuel Luna making sandals for his fans. He is THE master!

Barefoot Ted with his famous 1966 VW Beetle, Rickshaw & Solowheel. Yes, there was also a high wheel bicycle among his toys.

Choosing to go to Born to Run means getting dirty, camping, running your legs off, getting a new tattoo, attending a wedding, getting sunburned, and forever pulling fox tails out of your stuff, but most importantly it means sharing four magical days underneath the glorious California sun and stars with people just like you. We hope you’ll join us next year, you can check out the event here.

Or just take a leap of faith and sign up for 2019.

Until then, grab your LUNAs and run free friends.

For more BTR “Reports”, Videos and write-ups from our friends check out the links below:

therunderfullife

Kaori Photo

Born to Run video by Ricardo Ramirez