Running with the Earth

It is also reflected in the recent Minimalist Movement (not to be confused with the art movement) into which one can dump the Tiny Homes revolution, and the vegan revolution, all of which are not only about healthy and simpler lifestyles but also about the ecological benefits of such lifestyles.

And then there are the ultra runners.

What better time to join this running community that in an age where we have forgotten how little we really need for a healthy and comfortable life? About five years ago, browsing through the bookstores here, I happened upon a book, perhaps at R.I.K.

It was called Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Had Ever Seen by Christopher McDougall.

In search of the reason behind his constant running injuries, the author embarks on a journey to the mountains of Copper Canyon, Mexico, in search of the Tarahumara, a tribe for whom running is a natural way of life. Also called the Rar?muri or the running people, as one source translates it, their longest run is recorded at a non-stop 700 km in 48 hours.

This angle on the Tarahumara is a story of living and running with the energy of nature. As McDougall explains: “The real secret of the Tarahumara (was): they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running… Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain…Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet.

You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten;…You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else…We were born to run; we were born because we run. We’re all Running People…”.

Following Born to Run is McDougall’s second book Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance. Set in Crete, it explores, along with another take on running mechanics, the ideal of Greek heroism. For the Greeks, the hero is not necessarily the strongest man but the cleverest and most agile (think Odysseus or Hercules who had to rely on wits and physical endurance to triumph).

Set against the backdrop of World War II this is an engaging as well as humorous tale about a band of misfits - British intellectuals hardly likely to engage in active war - employed by Winston Churchill to create havoc for Hitler’s army based on the island of Crete. Trained by Cretan runners, these misfits eventually kidnap a German general and lead a resistance against the Nazis with local resistance fighters.

The book focuses on the question of how the feat was actually made possible in mountainous terrain like Crete’s, shedding light on the Greek focus on fascial conditioning.

Fitness is seen in Greek culture, as a means of being useful to others. If Born to Run inspired those who read it to throw out their expensive running shoes and opt instead for bare feet and a run through a forest to breathe in the trees and birds around, then Natural Born Heroes is going to entice readers to abandon gyms and begin seeing fitness possibilities in the man-made and natural environment, leading them to maybe run, jump and climb trees.

At the core of the books, are two key points - economy and focus.

These extreme runners remind us that life is movement, but movement entails focus on the course, mental and physical conditioning and an attitude of perseverance.

It’s an ultra marathon of highs, lows and periods when you wish you could give up and periods when you push through despite the fact that your body and mind are collapsing.

In a material world where mental and psychosomatic illnesses are widespread, as Scott Jurek, one of the world’s top ultra marathoners says, it’s about “finding a strength that goes beyond the body and the mind.

That’s when the magic happens.” (Kilian’s Quest, Season 04 Ep.

06,youtube.com). For films on ultra marathoners, check out Billy Yang’s 15 Hours and Life in A Day series, and Salomon R u n n i n g on youtube.

com.

They are bound to engage those who run for the sheer love of it.