Tarahumaras

Tarahumara
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The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are an indigenous people of northern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability.[1]. In their language, the term rarámuri refersspecifically to the males, females are referred as muki (individually) or igomele (collectively).
Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the Copper Canyon in theSierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because oftheir presence.
Current estimates put the population of the Rarámuri in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as cavesor cliff overhangs, as well as small cabins of wood or stone. Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Rarámuri still practice transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost allRarámuri migrate in some form or another in the course of the year.
The Tarahumara language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is stillwidely spoken.

Athletic prowess
The word for themselves, Rarámuri, means "runners on foot" or "those who run fast" in their native tongue according to some early ethnographers like Norwegian CarlLumholtz, though this interpretation has not been fully agreed upon. With widely dispersed settlements, these people developed a tradition of long-distance running up to 435 miles (700 km) in one session,over a period of two days through their homeland of rough canyon country, for intervillage communication and transportation. Before these long distance runs, they consume large quanities of `cornbeer` which is very high in carbohydrate and very low on alcohol. Sport scientists have studied that it takes up to 46,000 kcal to run 700km. The Tarahumara also use the `toe strike` method of running...