Chris McDougall

Christopher McDougall is the bestselling author of Natural Born Heroes, Running with Sherman and Born to Run. McDougall was previously an Associated Press foreign correspondent covering wars in Angola and Rwanda before he penned Born to Run, his first international bestseller which is currently being made into a movie featuring Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey. The popular author is also credited with pioneering the barefoot-running movement thanks to the popularity of Born to Run, and he has also written for Men’s Journal, The New York Times Magazine and Esquire. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he was previously a contributing editor for Men’s Health magazine.

After working in some of the world’s most war-torn countries as a foreign correspondent, McDougall’s interest in the limits of human potential sparked him to write Art of the Hero, an Outside magazine web series. His first book Born to Run chronicled his challenge to run hundreds of miles barefoot in an attempt to capture the secrets of a little-known Mexican Indian tribe, the Tarahumara Indians, who excel at long distance running.

Born to Run instantly captured the imagination of readers around the world and became an international bestseller, but rather than having a long-earned rest after his first adventure McDougall took on an even crazier mission with his next book, Natural Born Heroes. His story of how he retraced the steps of a band of plucky resistance fighters hiding a kidnapped German general in Crete in the Second World War proved just as popular as Born to Run.

An inspirational and engaging speaker who has spoken to diverse groups from corporate executives to university students, McDougall motivates and enthrals audiences with his tales of how he overcame physical and mental challenges whilst taking on the adventures of a lifetime.