Running With The Tarahumara

By Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, May 27, 2009.

This is the perfect time of year for runners. Not too hot and not too cold for a jog around the block, or to lace up and hit the trails. The more adventurous amongst us train for marathons. Yet even 26.2 miles is just a warm-up for the Tarahumara Indians. Members of the tribe run hundreds of miles at a time across the jagged terrain of Mexico’s Copper Canyon, without injury or exhaustion or fancy running shoes.

Journalist Christopher McDougall took his aching feet on a quest to find the reclusive tribe and to uncover its technique for ultradistance running. He's a writer for Men's Health magazine, and the author of the new book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. He joined us from Portland, Oregon to share the secrets of the Tarahumara runners.

San Francisco Chronicle: Barefoot in the park: book questions running dogma

The Boston Globe: What Ruins Running

(Photo by Bergdorf Brunette via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Just finished reading that amazing book that you spoke about a while back. How incredible. I only wonder how Virginia Prescott didn't just GUSH about it, given that she is clearly a runner. (I mean, who else KNOWS about the cuboid, let alone BREAKS it!?) Thank you so much for the interview and the honest-to-God life changing book you brought into my life. Listening is always a pleasure.

Submitted by Phoebe V-G on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 11:42.

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.