Run on “light feet” with the Raramuris in Chihuahua

As a conversation starter, I like to ask people what they do for fun.  Sadly, a surprising number are at a loss for an answer.  Not so,  my friend and mentor, media visionary Dave Morgan, founder of Real Media, last of Tacoda fame and with a brand new cutting edge concept , Simulmedia, in the works.  He runs for fun. He knows the constant pounding will probably hurt his knees, maybe his feet too, that it shakes up his body but it also stimulates his mind and brings forth all sorts of ideas. This man likes a challenge and is fit.  He’d probably enjoy a trip to the Barranca del Cobre in Chihuahua for a run with the Raramuris (a name that translates into light feet) who are known for their long distance races, that can  last for days and go deep down into the Copper Canyon and back up to 3000 meters above sea level.

Soon after train service from Chihuahua to Topolobampo, Sinaloa, was inaugurated in 1961, my parents took us on an unforgettable trip with our final destination being Mexico City.  The first leg of the trip  took us through the majestic Copper Canyon with spectacular vistas that took your breath away. Seven times larger than the Grand Canyon, it is so deep that it has never been completely mapped. This is where the Raramuris live to run or run to live.

Principally known as the Tarahumaras, this indigenous group  inhabits the rough terrain of the Sierra Madre Occidental in the state of Chihuahua, the northern state where I grew up.  They live in caves or wooden shacks during part of the year when they are not practicing transhumance, the season migration of people and lifestock.   Every year during my  boarding school years, many of us  Juarez, Chihuahua,  “society’ girls were sent off to Creel, the biggest town in the Barranca de Cobre then to do social work, mainly some remedial schooling for the children. I’d see them in the Juarez market in their colorful and distinctive outfits where they sold beautiful intricately woven nested baskets or begged.    I am ashamed to admit that it wasn’t until I spoke with  Dave and thought it would be fun that I relate his enjoyment  of running to the part that it plays in the life of this tribe that I never even bothered to do any research on one of the few indigenous groups of my native state.

Little did I know that this activity is the raison de etre, that it means life to the raramuris. (Hence  the title of the movie Born to Run.  The terrain that they inhabit is so rugged that it would take  them longer to go from place to place by horse or wagon than simply walking or running to their destination  at what here would be considered race pace.  So it is not unusual for someone to run between 50 and 80 miles a day as they go about their business.

Besides the daily business of running there are two important races that are run every year.  According to anthropologist John Kennedy: “, “Running is more than a game to the Tarahumara. Though obviously a pleasant diversion, it is also an economic activity, a force for social cohesion, and a channel of aggression….If this institution were removed from Tarahumara life, the total cultural imbalance resulting would be greater than if some sporting activity were dropped from our own complex culture”

Their yearly races, the rarajipari where two teams of  men from neighboring villages kick a ball as they run for up to 150 miles on a mostly  unmarked rugged course and the more sedate but no less competitive women’s race are the stuff of legend. There are medicine men on hand to create potions to make the competitors stronger and to weaken their opponents and bring them bad luck Runners smoke and drink right until the day of the race. To prepare for the race they smoke plenty of tobacco mixed with bat’s blood and drink copious amounts of tesguino, a fermented corn drink that gets stronger every day that it rests and that I learned to make at the ranch fom my comadre Lupe.

Studies have been done on whether the Tarahumaras are genetically made to run but the general conclusion is that it is endurance, conditioning, social importance and diet that give  them the edge.  Their diet consists of 10% fat, 10% protein and 80% complex carbohydates mainly beans and corn, the latter in the form of one of my favorite childhood treats  at the ranch:  pinole, slow-roasted corn ground to a fine powder with canela and sugar that we used to mix with ice water as a refreshing drink in the heat of the day and with warm milk for breakfast.  If you have a Vita-Mix blender, this is an easy chore: Toast the corn to golden nuggets, let them cool completely, and then grind with a stick of soft-stick cinnamon and sugar.

Most of the protein they eat are wild animals like deer, wild boar, rabbits and wild turkeys that they hunt by running after them until the animal collapses from exhaustion.  Their fishing  methods are unusual too –they throw a stick of dynamite into the water scaring the  fish who come to the top where they are easily caught. CONACULTA, The National Council for Culture and the Arts ) which promotes arts and culture published an excellent, fascinating and surprisingly extensive  book of Tarahumaran food and ingredients with live testimony on their traditions and beliefs that they zealously keep alive.r

Among themselves, Tarahumaras do not use money but rather they exchange goods and services somewhat like they do in Oaxaca in the tradition known there as guelaguetza. If they get hungry while running errands or traveling, they think nothing of cutting some ears of corn from someone’s field, starting a small fire and roasting enough to ease their hunger. It is customary to leave traces of the fire so the owner will know that someone had helped themselves to his property. However, it is a major infraction to take any with you. In the same vein, if a Tarahumara is tired, he or she will lie down and go to sleep wherever he is and no matter what time it is. These people listen to their bodies. Perhaps that is why they have been able to survive as a culture.

There is much interest in these people.  The book Born to Run is number 54 at amazon!!  This post will be continued.  Their major celebration is in Easter and I will write about it soon in case you want to plan a trip there,  Meanwhile, here is a picyure of me in my Tarahumara skirt.

(to be coninued)