Born to Run

‘When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever.’ ”

Unknown Mexico: A Record of Five Years’ Exploration Among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre.

You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else. And like everything else we love—everything

Make friends with pain, and you will never be alone. —KEN CHLOUBER, Colorado miner and creator of the Leadville Trail 100

Steve Peterson, a member of a Colorado higher-consciousness cult called Divine Madness, which seeks nirvana through sex parties, extreme trail running, and affordable housecleaning.

“Sure,” Fisher replied. “You got twenty bucks?” “For what?” the startled runner asked. For crimes against humanity. For the fact that “white guys” had taken advantage of the Tarahumara and other indigenous people for centuries, Fisher would explain. And if you don’t like it, too bad: “I couldn’t care less about the ultra community,” Fisher would sa

Shiva the Destroyer would snuff us out by doing … nothing.

That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation.

“Humans really are obligatorily required to do aerobic exercise in order to stay healthy, and I think that has deep roots in our evolutionary history,” Dr. Lieberman said. “If there’s any magic bullet to make human beings healthy, it’s to run.”