April 2013
And those were days before the minimals? There weren’t any minimals that time. By the time the book came about, I had run several marathons, including qualifying for the Boston Marathon running a 3hr and 16min marathon. I ran in a lot of tough difficult circumstances, and I did it all barefoot. That taught me a lot about my body and where my limits were. Going the barefoot route helped me become a pretty good athlete for my capacity. A lot of people might ask you about the risks of getting injured by thorns or glass pieces. You run with your eyes open. For example, if you spot dog poop…even if you had shoes, you would run around it. And maybe it isn’t the ideal place to run. Ultimately, people will find that there are many more places where it’s ideal. And you can discover that ability. The reality is barefoot works in a lot more situations than most people are aware of. The race itself that’s described in Born To Run... what was that experience like? Life-changing experience. Most amazing experience ever. And to have it preserved in the book makes it even better. Because it was a magical moment. It felt historical. And it was. And there were only a handful of people watching. The Copper Canyons Ultramarathon has grown into a rather large event. Your thoughts on (winner) Arnulfo Quimare and (runner-up) Scott Jurek? Incredible athletes, both of them. World class level. It was just a great honour to have been there to see that. That moment will never happen again. It can only happen once. Are you worried about the commercialization of the whole running scene around the Copper Canyons and the Tarahumara? I’ve concerns about that. But there are a couple of huge advantages with the place… one is that it’s very hard to get there. The town is benefitting from the race. There’re a lot more locals racing – over 300. I feel I have my own role in ensuring nothing bad happens. It’s not as fearful as it might seem. You’ve started your own brand of footwear now… Yeah, Luna Sandals. Matter of fact, it’s becoming super popular. The sandals that Manuel Luna taught me to make, and I improved upon. In 2011 Luna Sandals sold as many as Vibram Five Fingers sold in 2006. They will be available in India through Runners For Life. Sandals are perfect for the hot weather in India. In a hot climate, to put your feet in boxes is ridiculous. Sandals are as old as humans. This is a way of paying homage to what they’ve (Tarahumara) done to keep this alive. We’ll soon go with a special material
Dusty Trails
that’s 80 per cent natural so it’s biodegradable. Going barefoot, do you need to relearn a few things about running? Absolutely. Learning to run barefoot is learning to re-tune into your body’s sophisticated systems. We’re born with some incredible capacities that often get forgotten or misused because of some of the tools we thought we needed. It’s about becoming a lot lighter in your running… When you learn how to run like a human being, remarkably, you get stronger and better with use, rather than breaking down. Running doesn’t have to be something that breaks you down. Do fish break down when they swim? Do birds break down when they fly? Do deer break down when they run? No, and the same with humans. So why are they breaking down so much? Hmm! I wonder if it has anything to do with the shoe! Apart from running, do you do any other kind of training? I do some yoga, some pull-ups. Some swimming and body surfing. A lot of solowheel riding. To me, my running is a practice, it’s a joyful practice. I’m trying to get away from the time-distance-speed lifestyle; not because I think it’s wrong in itself, but that’s the only way a lot of people understand running. The idea that you’d time yourself is new… and people who spend their whole lives timing themselves, there’s the likelihood that they’ll get their ego involved and stop listening to their body, and that process leads to injury. If you spend more time listening to your body, and less on the time, you might find the balance. Running is one of our most fundamental capacities. Learning how to do that well sets you on the road to doing other things well.
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