Health tips from the Tarahumara

For the last several months our temporary living quarters have been adjacent to the new walking/biking/ jogging trail east of Kelley Park, in East McCook, to my mind, one of the great new improvements to McCook. It is surprising how much that trail is used -- by strollers out to exercise their dogs, by women pushing baby prams, by power walkers, joggers, and bikers -- individuals and families. It is a beautiful spot, and it has been fun to see people in every physical state actively out improving their health.

One of the most interesting of the exercisers is Randy Andrews, one member of a large fraternity of dedicated runners in McCook. Most of these runners compete with themselves, trying always to better their times or distances. Some are training for the one or another of the marathon races -- 26.2 miles of torture. Randy's choice -- Ultra Marathons, 100 mile, 30 hour runs -- across deserts, up and down mountains, or both.

Randy has completed the grueling Leadville, Colo., "Race Across the Sky," known as one of the most difficult of the ultra marathons because of the altitude, which reaches some 12,500 feet. The reward for completing that race in the allotted time -- besides the satisfaction of accomplishment -- a belt buckle! Of the many fine runners whom he has met at Leadville and other Ultra Marathons, Randy especially admires the Tarahumara.

The Tarahumara Indians are a small group (probably fewer than 50,000) of Apache- related Indians who occupy the harsh, desert-like Sierra Madre Mountain district of Northwest Mexico. These are a very shy, peaceful people, who were pushed out of more productive land to the south by the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the 16th Century. Until recently, they have largely avoided contact with civilization, and have managed to survive on land that no one else has wanted.

One year I took the train trip across the Copper Canyon, between Chihuahua, and Los Mochis, on the Sea of Cortez. This is one of the most spectacular of the world's train trips (sometimes seen on the Discovery Channel). It winds back and forth along and over deep canyons (think Grand Canyon). It is truly a heroic achievement of the engineering profession, and the source of much material for photographers and painters. This train trip traverses Canyon region, which is the home of the Tarahumara Indians.

For me, the highlight of my trip was an overnight stay at Creel, a small village, at about the half-way point. Visiting a small souvenir shop, I engaged the proprietor in conversation. He told me that most of his crafts were made by the Tarahumara -- crude violins, pots, woven goods, sandals, etc. While we visited, he looked out the window and announced that one of his suppliers was bringing him supplies at that very instant.

The fellow bringing his merchandise was a small man, not over 5 feet 5 inches and maybe 120 pounds.

He wore a breechcloth, a loose-fitting shirt, a cloth hat, and sandals. He carried a huge pack on his back -- and he was jogging down the street! I learned later that he had run with this pack from his village, through the mountains, some 20 miles away.

For the Tarahumara this was not unusual. There is no motorized transportation for these people. Their roads are just trails, and the country is so sparse and rugged that even horses are of no use. They walk -- run -- to get from one place to another, and running is a part of their life -- like a religion to them.

The Tarahumara are known to play a ritualistic game they call "foot throwing," in which teams from competing villages, of three to 10 players on a side, vie by kicking a small wooden ball. Once the ball is kicked, everyone races to the ball to kick it farther. A team, or individual, wins when he has outlasted everyone else. The game can go on for 24 hours and cover over a hundred miles of mountainous trails. There are no rules, and no time periods. Women have a similar game, played with hoops instead of a ball.

In years past, Tarahumara Indians have entered ultra-marathons in the United States. But since the Tarahumara are so poor, and there are no cash prizes for winners, they need to have sponsors who will cover their expenses, in order for them to take part.

The first Tarahumara runners to compete in U.S. races were so unsophisticated that they did not do very well, finishing well back of the winners. They were so shy that when they came to rest station they stood around, waiting for someone to offer them a drink of water or something to eat. They were so fascinated with the flashlights they were given that they kept shining them into the sky, instead of using them to light the trail ahead of them. But it didn't take long for them to learn how they should compete.

In 1993 there was a severe drought in the Sierra Madres, so a promoter arranged for a team of three Taramaharas to run in the Leadville race, with the promise of food for their village. The three Taramahara finished first, second and fifth in the race.

The winner was a man 55 years old, who set the course record, which lasted for some 10 years. It was interesting that, although Nike supplied the Indians with the latest in running shoes for the race, half way through the run they discarded their fancy footwear and finished the race in sandals that they had fashioned from truck tires, salvaged from the Leadville junk yard, and fastened to their feet with sisal thongs.

The Tarahumara do not run especially fast, but hold a steady pace for hours on end. The traditional Taramahara method of hunting deer, turkeys and rabbits is to chase (on foot) their quarry until the animal drops from exhaustion.

The Tarahumara confound generally accepted health rules that we accept in the United States. First of all, they have trouble even being born. The infant death rate for the Tarahumara is double that in the U.S. Those who do live do not have a balanced diet -- hardly any green vegetables, and very little protein. The diet of the Tarahumara consists almost entirely of corn and beans, with less than 10 percent protein. They eat meat only rarely -- usually in connection with religious ceremonies. Everyone smokes a great deal, using a mixture of tobacco and dried bat's blood (for strength). They freely consume alcohol (especially in the hours before a big race), a corn liquor, fermented in a big stone jar.

Though the Tarahumara runners wore sandals at Leadville, they all agreed that they preferred to run barefoot, even though their usual paths are rough and laced with sharp rocks. Still, shin splints and other common U.S. runner problems are rare to non-existent with the Tarahumara. Their pulse and blood pressure is normally 20 percent lower than that of U.S. runners.

There have been a number of studies on the health practices of the Tarahumara Indians in recent years, with the hope that we might learn something that will help our own health situation. Alas, the conclusions have been mixed at best. The extreme endurance that these people have developed to physical activity, namely running, seems to be a result of physical conditioning, cultural importance, and a vegetarian diet. The Indians that stay isolated from population centers do best health-wise. The Tarahumara that move to the city soon are subject to all the ailments that are common to city dwellers.

Runners, and the rest of us, can learn from the Tarahumara, in the realm of foot and leg problems, and perhaps the diet that sustains the body through a 100 mile race. Will training for, and running a 100-mile race make us live to be a hundred? Perhaps not, but it might seem like it.

Source: Running feet, by Art Beauregard. The Tarahumara, Wikipedia