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Tarahumara running is based on endurance not speed. This fact is exemplified by their hunting practices. In order to catch such wild animals as deer, wild turkeys, and rabbits, the Tarahumara simply chase after the animal until the animal drops from exhaustion. Their hunting practices are widely known in Mexico and ranchers have been known to hire the indians to chase down wild horses . It is also said that a Tarahumara once ran six hundred miles in five days to deliver a very important message. Their endurance and conditioning has become k nown worldwide. Says Dale Groom, M.D., “Probably not since the days of the ancient Spartans has a people achieved such a high state of physical conditioning.” (Lutz 21) This phenomenon has led to the inevitable question of, “Are the Tarahumara genetically special when it comes to running?” After many scientific tests, doctors have come to the conclusion that the Tarahumara’s endurance is based more on conditioning than on heredity. Experts believe that there are two main causes for the Tarahumara’s amazing endurance; physical conditioning and cultural importance. Diet also seems to play an important role in their running. The Tarahumara diet is practically meatless and consists mostly of complex carbohydrates.
Running is very important to the Tarahumara culture, although there is no formal training. Quite the opposite, the Tarahumara smoke and drink before each race. While even the children participate, it is not something taught to them. The Tarahumara call themselves “raramuri” which means fleet foot or foot runner.(Lutz 33) They take great pride in their running abilities and the best runners receive great status in society. They center the entire society around their running.
These guys are indeed amazing. The Kenyans of the ultra-long distance running world!!
I spent a week hiking in the Copper Canyon area of Mexico. I saw lots of Tarahumara natives. None of them were running though.
There are endurance runners in Africa as well. The Kalahari bush people hunt large antelopes by exhaustion chase. It is probably one of the oldest hunting methods, and I would guess that many tribes in many regions have hunted that way. I don't know, obviously, but it might be that the Neanderthals hunted some game that way, as they mostly used a disposable technology culture, presumably in order to maximize their mobility.
I would guess that training for this kind of activity would come down to being born into a runner culture, or adopting their ways early.
Reading about these runners has been somewhat of a blow to me, it has really made me question my understanding/knowledge in not just human endurance, but also concerning nutrition. I feel like my knowledge (I use that word loosely) in such matters is extremely diluted.
Reminder to me of how important it is to keep an open mind, but it also reminds me that, You really don't know what you don't know.
I would think the neanderthal bone structure (much heavier, with shorter legs) far less suited to an endurance-running lifestyle than the sapiens structure. It's a pet theory of mine (though I'm sure I got it from somewhere else) that human's endurance-running adaptations may be what led neanderthalensis to fade out while sapiens prospered.
Learning about the tarahumara (and in particular reading that "Born to Run" book) inspired me to take running seriously. I've always thought of myself as more of a hiker and cyclist... I hated running. Freshman year of highschool I tried track for a season and the first few 2-mile runs I did alright, contrary to my expectations... then someone told me that my minimal-padding walmart trail-shoe-knockoffs were horrible for me to run in, so I went out and got some cushy running shoes. Pretty soon I hated running again. While the suggestions are hotly contested in some circles, Born to Run at least suggested to me a pretty good reason why it went down the way it did. So now I run on the balls of my feet in my minimal trail runners, and it feels a lot better.
It would be amazing to be able to do what the Tarahumara do, though.
For what it's worth, I hiked 12 miles in the Southern Balds this last weekend wearing huaraches I made with a kit from invisibleshoe.com. I had only 10 pounds or so on my back, very rocky and uneven terrain. Worked very well. The biggest issue was that my feet got very dirty.
I don't know if they would work as well with more weight or for more miles. But it was cool hiking with almost nothing on my feet!
Very interesting book. I have done some backpacking in the area where the long distance race takes place and believe me it is a place to behold. Wiild, rugged and isolated. By chance I met the organizer of the race while at a hostel in Creel. Had a chance to coverse with him as we at the evening meal. Very unusual fellow.
Great book - Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Strong heritage of Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac in its telling, lots of colorful, fascinating characters, excellent rendering of the biomechanics, evolutionary biology and medical reseach which have shown that we're designed to run long distances. Read it recently, greatly enjoyed it, and bought a pair of Five Fingers as a result - breaking them and my feet in as we speak.
I've taken to walking and running on the balls of my feet in the past few weeks and have found my plantar fascitis receding apace. Still an issue - esp. hard to ensure ball-strike on steep, rocky terrain - but fading fast.
I was one of the top three milers in my class in JHS - the best of us was the best in the state by a wide margin - and really enjoyed running until my ankles became crazy painful. I chalked it up to growth spurt, as I was growing fast then, but I now think it likely had more to do with the Nikes I wore and the ball-strike-first running technique. I intend to build up to running regularly and then trail running. Energized at the prospect!
While I did thoroughly enjoy the book and am enthusiastic about the benefits of barefoot/minimalist running and running overall, the assertions in the book do deserve a little bit of question. There's a lot of good science in there but there are also some statements "extrapolated" from the real science that really have yet to be verified. And even a few misinterpretations: Persistence hunting, for example, is not a race-pace pursuit of an animal until it collapses of exhaustion. It's highly variable in pace, sometimes walking, trotting, running, or full-out sprinting. Tracking abilities are of greater importance than speed in persistence hunting. There are video documentaries of persistence hunting available on youtube, should you wish to find them.
The implication that high-intensity endurance running is beneficial for health is also still pretty unsupported. Recent studies have noted significant and consistent cardiac damage in competitive marathoners, for example, even in comparison with your sedentary crap-eating average american. The physical stresses of both competition-level training and the events themselves are damaging to the body.
Frequent, sustained low-mid level exercise seems to be pretty consistently associated with health benefits. For a tarahumara who's been running constantly since learning to walk, running 30 miles (at a no doubt highly variable pace due to the terrain) to the village is probably a low-intensity exercise the same way walking 20 miles is a low-intensity exercise to me. With an aerobic base that good, higher-paced tarahumara races on occasion are more like me going out and running a 10k (a challenge, but not that stressful to the body) than some overweight middle-aged guy getting off the couch and running a marathon, a much greater jump in activity that would incur much greater physical stress.
I just see a lot of potential for the book to lead readers to unsupported conclusions about running and health. It is of course a good book. But some of the ideas put forth in it need a grain or two of salt.
I can relate to that a bit. ;) In highschool, I actually hated running distance. I loved sprinting (which was usually on the toes... surprise surprise), but running a few miles always left my lower legs feeling horrendous, no matter how cushy the shoes I wore. I've thought of myself as "not a distance runner" for a long time due to that... then "Born to Run" suggested to me that I was simply doing it wrong, and I've enjoyed slower-paced distance running ever since, usually barefoot or in minimal shoes. But I'm still working on building that aerobic base so that it becomes a low-intensity activity; I can run 4 miles in under 40 minutes while breathing normally, but I try to avoid the heavy-breathing zone. It's slow or sprint for me. I think it's important to work up to long distances so that they're not unnecessarily stressful on the body; intermittent stresses are beneficial, chronic stress is bad.
I was one of the top three milers in my class in JHS - the best of us was the best in the state by a wide margin - and really enjoyed running until my ankles became crazy painful. I chalked it up to growth spurt, as I was growing fast then, but I now think it likely had more to do with the Nikes I wore and the HEEL-strike-first running technique.
I think it's important to work up to long distances so that they're not unnecessarily stressful on the body; intermittent stresses are beneficial, chronic stress is bad.
Definitely not diving in head-first (or ball first, as it were). Working up to it gradually. I'm naturally muscular of build, so I don't fancy myself a potential long distance champion. I'd like to be able to run in 10Ks, maybe half-marathons and to trail run. If more comes of it than that as a natural progression, so much the better, but I see no need to force the issue.
Just by that video and a few other things I've seen, it's my impression that this culture of long-distance runners is quickly fading away. Just listen between the lines of that video and look at all the people in the background, just seems like this culture is quickly fading, maybe irreversible.
Just a sad note, but a simple fact of life -- nothing lasts forever, everything comes to an end.