Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The men run quickly. They seem to fly down the path. They run as if they are a single body. Each man wears a colourful shirt and a white cloth around his waist. They run around rocks, up hills, and over mountains. These are the Tarahumara, a native people from Mexico. The name Tarahumara means: the running people.
Voice 2
Today's Spotlight is on the Tarahumara. There are three things people notice about the Tarahumara. First, they are very fast. Second, while most people wear running shoes, the Tarahumara wear no shoes. Third, while most people think of running as hard work, the Tarahumara run with joy, laughing and smiling.
Voice 1
Christopher McDougall was a writer and a runner. But he was not feeling any joy when he ran. Every time he ran, he felt pain in his foot. He went to doctors. He bought costly shoes. Nothing helped. Christopher enjoyed running but he was ready to stop. Then, he discovered something that made him think.
Voice 2
Christopher discovered that every year, 65-80% of all runners experience some kind of injury. These injuries are in the feet, legs, or back. This did not make sense. Most people ran in costly running shoes. So why were they still getting hurt? Then he learned about the Tarahumara people.
Voice 1
The Tarahumara people can run hundreds of miles at a time. A Tarahumara runner only wears thin sandals on the bottom of his feet. They do not follow a training plan. They do not eat special foods. In fact, before a run they normally drink homemade corn-alcohol. They do almost everything different from the best runners in the world. Still, they can run faster and longer than these other runners. And they rarely get hurt. How can this be? Christopher McDougall set off to Mexico to find the answer.
Voice 2
The Tarahumara live in the Copper Canyon, in Mexico. Hundreds of years ago, armies from Europe came to Mexico. Instead of fighting the Europeans, the Tarahumara ran away. They have been running ever since. Their life is not easy, because the Copper Canyon is not an easy place to live.
Voice 1
The Copper Canyon is a wild land. There are tall mountains and dangerous paths. The land is full of snakes and large cats that can eat people. It is very difficult to get in and out of the Copper Canyon. So drug dealers grow marijuana plants there. But the Tarahumara continue to live here. They grow much of their own food. They live in simple homes. And they can still run like the wind.
Voice 2
It was difficult for Christopher to find the Tarahumara. When he did, he sat down with a great Tarahumara runner and started asking questions. But the runner did not say much. This was because he did not know Christopher. He did not trust Christopher. But he heard of another man who could help him. The local people called him ‘The White Horse.'
Voice 1
The man called the White Horse was similar to Christopher. He had lived in the United States but he had been injured from running. He met some Tarahumara runners at a one hundred mile mountain race. He was amazed by the Tarahumara joy of running. So he left his old life and moved into the Copper Canyon. There, he made a home out of rocks and began living and running like the Tarahumara.
Voice 2
The man's real name was Micah. At first, he was not sure he could trust Christopher. Many people have tried to take advantage of the Tarahumara. But Micah needed Christopher just as much as Christopher needed Micah.
Voice 1
Over the past few years, the Tarahumara had experienced some serious problems. The government built new roads into the Copper Canyons. The road was changing the Tarahumara way of life. The Tarahumara did not want the road. The only people who wanted the road were the drug dealers. Micah wanted to let people know about this. But he was looking for someone who could write; someone with experience as a news reporter. He was looking for someone like Christopher.
Voice 2
Micah told Christopher how to run better. He told Christopher that the pain in his foot was probably caused by his costly running shoes. The shoes were doing the work of his feet. This made his feet weak. Lose the shoes, Micah said, and your feet will get strong again.
Voice 1
But Micah also told Christopher about the Tarahumara. He told him how the Tarahumara hunt. They run after an animal until the animal cannot run any more. He told him that the Tarahumara run everywhere. He also told Christopher about how he was trying to have a race between the top runners from the United States and the top Tarahumara runners. Micah thought this would raise understanding of the problems of the Tarahumara. But he needed Christopher's help.
Voice 2
Christopher returned to the United States. He began making telephone calls and sending e-mails. He found several runners who wanted to race. He even got Scott Jurek. Many people consider Scott to be the best distance runner in the world.
Voice 1
The race was a fifty mile run through the Copper Canyons. There were no prizes. There were no news cameras. There were eight Americans and twelve Tarahumara runners. The people from the Tarahumara towns all came to cheer and offer water. There was music and dancing. It was one big party.
Voice 2
But once the race began, things got serious. Running fifty miles can take from six to twelve hours. All day long they ran along the dirt paths. Scott Jurek led, but the team work of the Tarahumara permitted them to pass him. The temperature got hotter and hotter. The runners began to spread out. If they were not careful, they could get lost in the wilderness or not have enough water.
Voice 1
Micah was so excited that he stopped running and went to the finish line. He wanted to see the finish. He thought he had plenty of time. There was no way anyone could run so fast. But as he came to the finish he saw a cloud of dust in the distance. But who was it? It was Arnulfo, one of the Tarahumara runners! But right behind him was Scott Jurek! Both men ran faster and faster. As Arnulfo crossed the line, the crowd went wild. When Scott crossed the line, he walked over to Arnulfo and bowed. He knew a great runner when he saw one.
Voice 2
On his personal website, Micah says this about the race:
Voice 3
"During the 13 hours together on the path, the runners became close. They shared stories. It was a beautiful cultural exchange between running people. During the five days together, all of the runners and towns-people became united in beauty, truth and peace. Twenty runners would start the race, but all would be winners."
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