Los tarahumaras son un pueblo nativo de México, asentado en territorio del estado de Chihuahua; ellos se llaman a sí mismos "rarámuri". Tarahumara también es como se conoce en castellano a la lengua de este pueblo. Por corrupciones del lenguaje los españoles les denominaron como "tarahumaras", que no es más que una castellanización de la citada palabra rarámuri. Según el historiador Luis González, rarámuri etimológicamente significa "planta corredora" y en un sentido más amplio quiere decir 'los de los pies ligeros', haciendo alusión a la más antigua tradición de ellos: el correr.
Las carreras de bolas (rarajípari)
Este es un juego de pelota muy común entre los tarahumaras y guarojíos. Es también el acto colectivo más importante
que llevan a cabo los hombres tarahumaras. Consiste en lanzar con el empeine del pie una bola (komakali) hecha de
raíces de encino u otro árbol y correr descalzo detrás de ella hasta alcanzarla. Con esta carrera los equipos
realizan apuestas, resulta ganador quien llegue a la meta, la cual a veces está a 200 kilómetros de distancia.
Las carreras pueden durar hasta dos días, toda la comunidad apoya y ayuda a sus competidores: les llevan agua y pinole, iluminan su camino durante la noche con ocotes encendidos, les echan porras, e incluso corren con ellos a lo largo de toda la ruta.
Las mujeres también juegan a lanzar dos pequeños aros entrelazados, a lo que le llaman rowena. Con las carreras representan la razón de ser de su existencia: el correr
http://www.tarahumara.com.mx/espanol.asp
http://www.tarahumara.org.mx/
Correr con los tarahumaras
Como corredor de ultramaratones, he participado en muchas carreras por senderos que serpentean a través del terreno montañoso y accidentado del oeste de Estados Unidos. Al comienzo de mi primera carrera de 160 kilómetros, noté un grupo de hombres que vestían pantalones sueltos de tela blanca, sarapes, cintas rojas en la cabeza, y huaraches que parecían hechos en casa. Pronto supe que los hombres eran miembros del legendario pueblo tarahumara, de la Sierra Madre Occidental en el estado mexicano de Chihuahua.
Los tarahumaras viven una vida sencilla y su economía es precaria: cultivan maíz, frijol y calabaza. Suplementan la dieta con algunas cabras y pollos, pequeños animales de caza, pescado y hierbas. Se llaman a si mismos "rarámuri", que significa "los de los pies ligeros". Las carreras de larga distancia son uno de los ejes de su identidad cultural, y han evolucionado hasta convertirse en un juego llamado "rarajipari". El "rarajipari" es una carrera durante la cual se patea una pequeña bola de madera por distancias que oscilan entre 80 y 160 kilómetros. La carrera puede durar hasta dos días. Los corredores compiten descalzos y renuevan sus energías con agua y maíz molido.
Yo pensaba en todo esto mientras organizaba mis barras de energía y alimentos especiales, vistiendo telas sintéticas y zapatos de cien dólares para correr. Ya sentía gran respeto por los tarahumaras antes de comenzar la carrera. A los 32 kilómetros del arranque, encontré a uno sentado a la orilla del camino.
"¿Estás bien?"
"Sí, sólo estoy arreglando mi huarache".
Alcancé a otro durante un largo, empinado y laborioso ascenso.
"¿Cómo te va, amigo?"
"Bien, aunque el ascenso es difícil a esta altura".
Muchas horas después, como a los 129 kilómetros, yo luchaba por vencer el último ascenso cuando me pasó otro tarahumara. Su sarape se hinchaba tras él y parecía flotar montaña arriba.
"Hombre, luces muy fuerte".
"Gracias, me siento bastante bien".
Terminé cerca del amanecer. Al sentarme para recuperarme, me sorprendió ver al mismo hombre cojeando hacia la recta final, protegiendo un terrible tajo en la rodilla. Yo lo había pasado en la oscuridad sin percatarme de él.
"Eso luce feo. ¿Qué pasó?"
"Caí duro sobre algunas piedras, pero estoy bien. Ya terminé".
Me sentí agradecido de que la salud me permitiera concluir la agotadora carrera y de haberlo hecho en compañía de grandes corredores. Creo que los seres humanos modernos estamos aquí sólo gracias a nuestros antepasados, que tuvieron que correr para evitar convertirse en el alimento de otras criaturas. Me sentí unido a estos hombres al agradecer en silencio a nuestros veloces ancestros nuestra presencia en la tierra este día.
http://www.studyspanish.com/comps/running2.htm
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los tarahumaras corren casi descalzos ( en inglès)
Tarahumara tribe, the best long-distance runners in the world. These are a people who live in basic conditions in Mexico, often in caves without running water, and run with only strips of old tyre or leather thongs strapped to the bottom of their feet. They are virtually barefoot.
Come race day, the Tarahumara don't train. They don't stretch or warm up. They just stroll to the starting line, laughing and bantering, and then go for it, ultra-running for two full days, sometimes covering over 300 miles, non-stop. For the fun of it. One of them recently came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing nothing but a toga and sandals. He was 57 years old.
When it comes to preparation, the Tarahumara prefer more of a Mardi Gras approach. In terms of diet, lifestyle and training technique, they're a track coach's nightmare. They drink like New Year's Eve is a weekly event, tossing back enough corn-based beer and homemade tequila brewed from rattlesnake corpses to floor an army.
Unlike their Western counterparts, the Tarahumara don't replenish their bodies with electrolyte-rich sports drinks. They don't rebuild between workouts with protein bars; in fact, they barely eat any protein at all, living on little more than ground corn spiced up by their favourite delicacy, barbecued mouse.
How come they're not crippled?
Modern running shoes on sale
I've watched them climb sheer cliffs with no visible support on nothing more than an hour's sleep and a stomach full of pinto beans. It's as if a clerical error entered the stats in the wrong columns. Shouldn't we, the ones with state-of-the-art running shoes and custom-made orthotics, have the zero casualty rate, and the Tarahumara, who run far more, on far rockier terrain, in shoes that barely qualify as shoes, be constantly hospitalised?
The answer, I discovered, will make for unpalatable reading for the $20 billion trainer-manufacturing industry. It could also change runners' lives forever.
Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University, has been studying the growing injury crisis in the developed world for some time and has come to a startling conclusion: 'A lot of foot and knee injuries currently plaguing us are caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak, cause us to over-pronate (ankle rotation) and give us knee problems.
'Until 1972, when the modern athletic shoe was invented, people ran in very thin-soled shoes, had strong feet and had a much lower incidence of knee injuries.'
Lieberman also believes that if modern trainers never existed more people would be running. And if more people ran, fewer would be suffering from heart disease, hypertension, blocked arteries, diabetes, and most other deadly ailments of the Western world.
'Humans need aerobic exercise in order to stay healthy,' says Lieberman. 'If there's any magic bullet to make human beings healthy, it's to run.'
The modern running shoe was essentially invented by Nike. The company was founded in the Seventies by Phil Knight, a University of Oregon runner, and Bill Bowerman, the University of Oregon coach.
Before these two men got together, the modern running shoe as we know it didn't exist. Runners from Jesse Owens through to Roger Bannister all ran with backs straight, knees bent, feet scratching back under their hips. They had no choice: their only shock absorption came from the compression of their legs and their thick pad of midfoot fat. Thumping down on their heels was not an option.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html
el maratòn les parece corto....( en inglès)
Tarahumara public racing began at the 1928 Olympic marathon. The two indians that were running were not aware of the distance and when they finished, they were not tired and said, “Too short! Too short!” (Lutz 22) The Tarahumara first appeared on the Ultramarathon circuit in 1992 at the Leadville 100-mile run in Colorado. They were brought from Mexico and funded while they were here by Rick Fisher, operator of Wilderness Research Expeditions (Ramos A1). Fisher is disliked in the Ultra community because he is thought to be loud, outspoken, and rude. It is also believed that he uses the plight of the Tarahumara simply to gain attention for himself and for his organization. In their first race, none of the Tarahumara finished. In 1993, Fisher tried again but this time he familiarized the indians with the course, the equipment and the American racing customs . In 1992 the Tarahumara had many problems. First, they were unfamiliar with the course. Second, they did not know how to use the equipment. At night, they ran with their flashlights pointing up likes the torches that they are used to. Third, at aid stations they simply stood there and therefore received little nutrition and became weak and dehydrated. In their culture is not polite just to take food. They wait until it is offered. In the 1993 Leadville they fared much better. Tarahumaras took first, second and fifth place (Williams 8). The most amazing thing about the indians was their pace. The winner was fifty-five years old and only ran the second half of the race twenty minutes slower than he ran the first! Another thing that shocks the ultra spectators is Tarahumara footwear. They wear sandals called huaraches made out of old tire tread and leather straps. A Tarahumara won Leadville again in 1994. Later that same year in Utah at the Wasatch 100-Mile run, the Tarahumara were part of a controversy. Someone did not pay their entry fees so they weren’t allowed be official runners. They ran unofficially and a Tarahumara was the first to cross the finish line. This greatly upset race officials and the second person to cross the finish line had to be declared the official winner. The latest undertaking of the Tarahumara runners was at the Angeles Crest 100-mile Endurance Run this September. They did not fare well and only one of four entrants finished, in fourth place. It is believed that they went out too fast and became dehydrated .(Nazario M3)
Within the last few years the Tarahumara have come into the public spotlight. They have recently been entering ultramarathons to call attention to the problems that their people are having in Mexico. Deforestation in the Barranca del Cobre has become one of the most pressing problems for the Tarahumara. “Construction of logging roads, coupled with the thinning of the forests has led to erosion and soil depletion, which have crippled farming and livestock grazing” ( Severance 77). The increased logging is due to two major factors. One is the completion the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad in 1962. This, along with other new logging roads has made the land that the Tarahumara lives on much more accessible to modern transportation. Another reason is that the Mexican government received a 45.5 million-dollar loan in 1989 from the World Bank for a logging and forest management project. These funds have been misused though and have been put toward just increased logging. Another problem facing the Tarahumara is the presence of drug traffickers. The Barranca del Cobre is a very productive drug growing area. Drug traffickers have been forcing the Tarahumara to grow the crops of drugs, including marijuana, heroin and opium. It is estimated that seven million pounds of marijuana and two thousand, five hundred pounds of heroin are exported each year into the United States alone. They also clear land in order to have land to grow the crops. The Tarahumara provide a cheap labor supply and if they refuse the demands of the traffickers they are killed. An average of four indians are killed per week because of their refusals. (MEXDEFOR 2) In an attempt to combat the drug problem the Mexican government has been spraying a herbicide called paraquat over the fields. Paraquat rarely affects the crops but is polluting the drinking water of the Tarahumara.
Despite all of these problems, the Tarahumara are still running and will continue to do so until their extinction. They are a very unique group of people with very different ideas about the way to live life. They are a society which many can learn from, not only in the running world but in many other areas of life. The Tarahumaras should be respected for the feats they have accomplished and be left alone to live in peace.
maratòn del cañòn del cobre
http://www.barefootted.com/
Copper Canyon Run and Ultra Marathon
http://www.caballoblanco.com/
carrera de 2010
http://www.caballoblanco.com/2010message.html
Meeting the Tarahumara at the Leadville 100 (miles mountain run)
By Micah True. in 1993
.....
Juan herera 25 years old , the winner and new course record holder, taking almost 30 minutes off of the previous record; finishing in a time of 17:30. Ann Trason, was widely known in ultra running circles around the world as being the best woman ultra-distance runner on the planet, Ann had run the third or fourth fastest Leadville 100 ever, with an amazing time of 18:04! This time shattered the previous women's record, that I believe she still holds, and most likely, always will.
Martimiano finished 3rd place in a time of 19:40.
4 of the first 5 finishers were Raramuri.
The 7 Raramuri all finished in the top 11.
At the awards presentation, I gave a speech honoring the great runner, Ann Trason; saying how Martimiano had been very impressed with her, and had made her a gift [korima]. "On behalf of my Tarahumara friends, we would like to present Ann Trason with this gift." The Nike sponsored athlete came forward to receive her gift, a pair of hand-made huarache sandals.
The Tarahumara were never invited back to run Leadville, even though standard race policy is that ALL past champions are invited automatically. This rule did not seem to apply to the Raramuri.
.....
http://www.caballoblanco.com/meeting.html
http://www.ultrunr.com/led-95.html
Armstrong wins Leadville 100 in MTB in 2009
1 2 Lance ARMSTRONG ASPEN CO 06:28:50.9
http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/final_list/division/93578
http://www.velonews.com/article/96668
first in 2009 won with a time only 2min and 37 seconds less than juan herrera the tarahumara
Place Name Bib# Age Class
1 17:27:23 Timmy Parr 383 27 M2
http://67.132.106.4/merchant.ihtml?id=1579&step=2
run course 100miles go-and back
http://www.leadvilletrail100.info/LT_files/LT100Run/100Run_files/lt100runmapFixed.jpg
the record of the race for men was broken in
2005 - Matt Carpenter, CO 15:42:59
the record for woman is hold for ann trason in 1994 in the mitical race with juan herrera
Ann Trason, CA 18:06:24
http://67.132.106.4/merchant.ihtml?id=1476&step=2
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