I never knew Texas could be so beautiful. The rolling green hills carpeted with Juniper and Oak stretched into the distance. Broken limestone and prickly pear cactus littered the ground. I was at a private campground called Camp Eagle in the Hills Country of central Texas. I was standing around anxiously awaiting our packet pickup for the Hunter Gatherer Survival Run. I knew there would be some...

I’ve had my eye on this race for a while. Unfortunately it was canceled in 2011 so my adventure there had to be postponed until this year. Everything happens on the Island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. The course nearly loops around the entire island and boasts two volcanic climbs; Maderas, or as I liked to call it, “The Beast”, is inactive, wet, cold, and MUDDY and Mt. Conception which is...

A guest post from Jesse James Retherford of  www.TAO-Fit.com

Feet. Do we need them?

There are 26 bones in the human foot, 33 joints, more than 100 muscles, and roughly the same number of sensory nerves that you have on the palms of your hands.  By the way, that’s the same amount of nerves as the inside of your mouth, and coincidentally, your genitals. 

It should be pretty obvious that the foot is...

I sat slumped over in a camp chair by the fire. It was dark and cold in those mountains in the wee hours of the night. I was tired, delirious, and defeated. I was at mile 68 of the Bear 100. As we neared the aid station I told Sweeney, my pacer, that I was done, that I was dropping out at this aid station. When I told him tears welled up in my eyes at the verbal admission of defeat. I was glad...

"Massasoit, it will be remembered, was the Wampanoag sachem [leader] first to visit the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621, and then became and continued their firm friend. The treaty of peace and mutual defence, made between him and the whites, was carefully observed for above fifty years, and was an important factor in the prosperity of the colony." History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts.

Barefoot Ted and other LUNAr Monkeys went down Mexico once again for the Caballo Blanco Ultra Marathon (formerly Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon). Here are some of our favorite memories, in photo form, from this year’s trip:

"About ten miles into the race I was bombing down a hill in my Osos. I looked around and realized that I was running at that moment with one Canadian, one German and one...

Buenas tardes from Panama!

Today was a MAGICAL day. For the first time in almost 3 months, since being inspired to go minimalist by Chris’s adventures in ‘Born to Run’, I was able to cruise around in my LUNA Leadville Pacers with no calf pain and for a distance similar to what I was running before throwing out my Nike trainers. I am bubbling with excitement. The recurring pain in the sides of...

The orange and red Madronas contrasted sharply with the dark green evergreens, all clinging to a steep rocky slope spilling into the sea. Our ferry had just left Lopez Island and was rounding the northern point of the island on our way to Orcas Island. The four of us lounged in the cushy seats of our booth on the ferry. The sun was blinding and...

Reading Christopher McDougall’s recent article titled “Born to Be Barefoot” was a great pleasure. His article succinctly confirms and validates for me the worthiness of the pursuit of personal understanding through self-experimentation and hints from the stories and traditions of our most ancient ancestors.

Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” has moved a lot of us to reexamine what it means...