From the Horse’s Mouth

Once upon a time not so long ago and in a land not so far away, a stumbling klutz discovered running. Ditched the couch potato lifestyle. Ditched the cigarettes. Donned a pair of trainers and hesitantly attempted to run. Through the gasping, aches, pains and some injuries, I was able to sort of call myself a runner. A novice runner at best and as a novice I developed an obsession for most things to do with running. Websites,blogs,Twittersphere chatter and books. It was in this myriad world of reading that I stumbled upon a book enticingly called ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall. A book which I thought would affirm in me that there is no myth in running and that everyone can run and this is where it all began.


“Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong…”
- source: www.chrismcdougall.com

Having been quite inspired by this book ,when I received an email that one of the central characters in this book was in UK, to do a series of talk, I promptly registered for the talk .
The man I went to see was Caballo Blanco, an eccentric American who roamed, ran and lived among the Tarahumaras, a tribe that McDougall described as super athletes as this tribe has the ability to run continuously over long distances of hundreds of miles.

Caballo Blanco’s real name is Micah True and as he claimed in the opening of his talk, he is no super athlete nor proclaim to be an expert in running and is definitely not here to talk about the science of running. He is just someone who loves running and who is privileged to live among the Tarahumaras, in the Copper Canyons, Sierra Madre in Mexico. So what was his story? How did he come to be featured in the book?

Caballo cuts a tall, lean figure at age 58, but you would have thought he might have discovered the fountain of youth in the canyons. Perhaps, distance running is the elixir of youth? He looked quite different from how the book portrayed him. In the book, he was portrayed as a wild, unshaven, long -haired hippie who lived in the mountains. Here stood a man completely shaven, dressed in T-shirt, shorts and yes, he even wore shoes. Caballo even made a joke about how he left all his long hair behind in the canyons and when it came to the issue with shoes, he does wear them and no, he does not run barefoot. Neither do the Tarahumaras and he cannot quite understand how barefoot running was associated with this tribe. This is one of a few things that Caballo was quite critical about with what had been written in the book. ‘ The book has taken some poetic licence’ - Caballo said with a cynical smile.

Here’s a link of Caballo in person
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj_pyfMoLio&feature=related

This is when he explained the reason he was here. The reason for him to take on taking speaking engagement. He wanted to use what the book has done for him and the tribe, as an opportunity to tell the world about the true lives of the Tarahumaras. An opportunity to raise awareness, funds and help to support a sustainable livelihood for these people whom he has great respect and love for. All proceeds of his talk goes to a non for profit organisation he heads called ‘Friends of the Running People’. It is through such support that he hopes, the Tarahumaras can continue to run free and that their lives can be sustained , respected and flourish for many generations to come.

Here’s a link of a film that was shown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIyEvomUz14

So how does someone called Micah True became Caballo Blanco and became synonymous with the Tarahumaras? Micah as he was called then, stumbled into running quite by accident. He began running in his mid 20’s and it was to escape from the everyday life of working hard and partying hard. He would starve for days and take long hikes to get away. Then realising how unfit he was, he took up martial arts, watched his diet and began to run regularly. Soon he was running more than his friends in martial arts because he enjoyed it, with a mileage of 180 - 190 miles per week.

He still hadn’t taken himself to be a serious runner though he had won a few races. Blighted by injuries, he stopped racing and he felt that he have had enough because he ran for enjoyment. Then he had a terrible accident on a bicycle from which when he recovered, he decided to celebrate by entering the Leadville 100, in Colorado. It is here that his encounter with the Tarahumaras, eventually changed his life.

In 1993, the Tarahumaras were entered into the Leadville 100 by an astute and enterprising organiser. Impoverished and hungry, the Tarahumaras agreed to participate in exchange for food. Up till then, no one had heard of the Tarahumaras, soon they caught the media attention, sponsorship came pouring in and Leadville 100 was launched into the limelight. As in the book, Caballo’s re-telling of this story, makes you feel quite angry at how the vulnerability of the Tarahumaras was exploited for the personal gains of others - organisers, media and sponsors. In a sense this, makes you question the commercialisation of running- glorifying the sport, making it cool, making it sexy and putting it on a ‘stage’. The must have kit, the proliferation of fancy running techniques, training regimes, the performance enhancing diet etc.. and the list goes on.

As to be expected then, that Caballo was asked questions relating to what shoes is best to running techniques he would recommend and diet to adopt if one wants to run better. His answer - where what feels good for you. Lower base shoes will help minimise the rolling of the foot on uneven surfaces. With running techniques - run tall, run smooth, relax and feel your own pace. His philosophy ‘ Be easy, be light and be smooth’ - he said with a smile.

Perhaps, we have really overcomplicated things. Perhaps, as the book said, we are born to run but through modern lifestyle, our muscular structure, our physical bodies have no need to develop and adapt to enable us to run. Caballo pointed out that the Tarahumaras are not super human, they are just more adapt to run because of where they live and because of their lifestyle. ‘If you can run 15 miles, you can run 50 miles’ - so Caballo said. I must admit I cannot fathom running 50 miles but I guess when you think about it, he is quite right. It is a matter of motivation and desire. If we all really wanted to, we will train ourselves to run whatever distances we set our minds to.

I wouldn’t say Caballo is a great orator or inspiring speaker but he kept things very real, down to earth and reminded me that simplicity is best. His stories, his attitude towards running, affirms me in why I run. Affirms me that in enjoying running, I have perhaps stumbled upon a whole new world and lifestyle choice that promises much more then just P Bs.