Tarahumara hundreds of miles from the canyons. These guys would tear off on 300 and 400-mile runs -- not just for a purpose, you know, like the Navahos used to have a whole system
The Tarahumara were famous for chasing down deer this way.
The Tarahumara are remarkable for three things. Number one, when the Conquistadors arrived in Mexico, back in the 1600s, you basically had two choices: You either fight back or
The Tarahumara just turned around and took off.
The Tarahumara are free from crime, violence, warfare, heart disease, high cholesterol,
the Tarahumara have managed to hide themselves and live down there, almost untouched by the modern world. So, essentially, they are living today exactly
This is the elderly Tarahumara gentleman, who's sitting, and people in the village in Africa, where they're all sitting.
They were Tarahumara from Chihuahua.
ancient tribe of the Tarahumara, and their shadowy disciple Caballo Blanco.
the secret of the Tarahumara." It's the simplest thing of all.
to rediscover what the Tarahumara have never forgotten.
And I was doing research among the Tarahumara Native Americans who are well known for, among other things, their long distance running.
That was my first introduction to the Tarahumara. I made a lot of mistakes along the way trying
So if you took a bunch of Tarahumara and dropped them off in the Rift Valley among the Nandi, you know, would they run as fast as the Kenyans? Probably, if they cared to.
that these reclusive runners known as the “Tarahumara,” one of the few times they've ever turned up at the Leadville Trail 100 Ultra Marathon, Dr. Joe Vigil was there, which
But what's interesting about the Tarahumara is they are there.
He took me downstream to a little Tarahumara schoolhouse where the kids would come down from their cave homes at the beginning of the week and basically camp out and live there
He came down to study the Tarahumara, and run with them.
When I looked at some of the runners in the Tarahumara Valley, the callus on the bottom of their feet were tremendous.
down to the canyons to let them realize what the Tarahumara knew and letting the Tarahumara know that there were people in the outside world who valued and respected what
Meeting the Rarámuri, the Tarahumara people, running with some of the greatest runners in the world, being part of a great story.
The book is a chronicle of the tribe of the Tarahumara, who live in Chihuahua, Mexico, and their extraordinary running ability, as well as the politics surrounding running in
And that was the real secret of the Tarahumara. They've never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remember that running was mankind's first
So that's what he meant when he called the Tarahumara "The founders and makers of the history of mankind." Perhaps all of our troubles -- all the violence
Nothing has changed since the Stone Age for the Tarahumara.
of messengers. The Tarahumara essentially did it for fun.
And he is just as reclusive as the Tarahumara, except for one thing.
And it looked exactly like some of the Tarahumara children I'd seen the day before.
If I could mimic the behavior of the Tarahumara, maybe I could get the rest of the benefits.
And we ended up heading down for this race with the Tarahumara and Caballo Blanco.
You know, the Tarahumara have voluntarily lived in seclusion.
I made this distinction between the way the Tarahumara run and the way the Kenyans run marathons. You know, we are endurance animals.
You know, the Tarahumara are a tribe which have essentially lived in isolation at the bottom of this deep, dangerous, very inaccessible network of canyons in north-westernish Mexico
Are there transferable skills that we can take from the Tarahumara, and incorporate into our own lives? Because, you know, it's nice to say, "Hey.
to have problems. And we can dismiss the Tarahumara as being this kind of quirky, funky, ancient, indigenous tribe that has nothing to do with us.
Besides their ability to do that, the Tarahumara are also free from greed, crime, violence,
They are free from it. The Tarahumara don't even have money.
When I got out of the canyons after that visit with Caballo and the Tarahumara, I started to look into long distance running. And I discovered that there have been certain
And I was finishing up that book in 2012 when I went to do some fieldwork in the Sierra Tarahumara, which is in Chihuahua in northern Mexico.
There's one in the Copper Canyon, which were Tarahumara Indians.
So there's a book called "Born to Run." Some of you-- so you know about the Tarahumara Indians.
the greatest, living, Tarahumara runners. His home is so concealed that, if you were standing on it right now, you would not realize it's there.
So we went deeper into the canyons, and we found this little Tarahumara schoolhouse.
And over the months and the years, he'd become friendly with the Tarahumara.
I'm heading down there in a few weeks for this race he's putting on with the Tarahumara." "No way!" "And I think Scott Jurek" -- you know, the
One of the parts of the book is quite sad is that, any observation of the Tarahumara is going to impact on them. And I was interested to know, What's happened
is true, it essentially gives you a culture much like the Tarahumara.
that embankment is just rituous torture. And what Vigil saw when he saw the Tarahumara come running up there was something he had never seen on a runner's face, ever.
it goes. There's nothing we can do.” When Vigil looks at the Tarahumara, he's not trying to find excuses.
the guy named Arnulfo Quimare. He was one of the best of the living Tarahumara runners. I finally got there in the presence of the