By Julie Etra

Who is this Lorena Ramírez? And why are she and her people such exceptional runners? To understand why Lorena and her family are so exceptional, we first need to understand who they are and where they come from.

Who Are the Rarámuri?
First, a little background. The Rarámuri, or Tarahumara as the Spanish called them, live in the Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon) in southwestern Chihuahua, a state in Northern Mexico; in 2017, there were about 120,000 Rarámuri.

The word rarámuri means “foot runners” in their language (rara = “foot,” muri = “to run”), which follows their ancient tradition of running “on winged feet.” Now mostly confined to the Copper Canyon, the Rarámuri had previously occupied much of Chihuahua, but sought refuge from the invading Spanish in the 16th century. The majority still practice a traditional mostly self-sufficient lifestyle, using little technology, cultivating traditional crops and many, like the Ramírez family, raising livestock. Their homes in the canyons can be pretty basic; some families live in caves or cliff overhangs. They also produce lovely basketry, for sale at major tourist destinations in Chihuahua like Divisadero and Creel.

When Rarámuri runners head off for ultra-distance runs, their choice of sustenance is not energy bars or electrolytes, but rather pinole (a maize-based powder used in a variety of recipes) and tortillas, and they don’t train for these events in any typical sense. Despite their storied fame as endurance runners, they have only recently gained attention on an international scale, competing against world-renowned runners.

As part of a traditional rarájipari event, which is largely spiritual, the male competitors kick a komakali, a baseball-sized wooden ball. The women may compete in a race called ariwete, using hooked sticks to flick a hoop as they run. Although the Rarámuri hunt with bow and arrow, and (rarely) firearms, anthropologists believe the tradition of running may have evolved from “persistence hunting,” with the prey – particularly deer and turkeys – pursued on foot until the animal collapses from exhaustion or heat stroke. Anthropologists have also concluded that running has both social and spiritual significance for the Rarámuri.

The Copper Canyon

The canyon actually consists of six distinct canyons – Urique, Sinforosa, Copper, Tararecua, Batopilas, and Oteros – within the Sierra Madre Occidental (literally, the western mother mountain range). Together, they cover 65,000 sq. km. (±25,000 sq. mi.), more than four times the surface area and almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the US state of Arizona. The average altitude is 2,275 meters (±7,465 ft) above sea level; the highest point, Cerro del Mohinora, is 3,306 meters (±10,845 ft.) and the lowest point, at the confluence of the Septentrion and Chínipas Rivers, is around 220 meters (±725 ft.). The average yearly rainfall is 38 cm (±15 inches). The topography is dramatic, with rocky outcrops and vertical, sheer slopes, and has been described as one of the most extreme landscapes in the world.

With the exception of the very bottom of the canyons the rocky formations resulted from explosive volcanic ash flows, ash falls, and mudflow breccias (sharp-angled rocks cemented together), all deposited approximately 20 to 40 million years ago and subsequently carved into canyons by the six rivers that drain from the western flank of the mountains, merging into the Rio Fuerte which flows into the Gulf of California in the state of Sinaloa. The Batopilas River flows through the bottom of the Batopilas (= place of the closed-in waters) Canyon; the small community of Batopilas was founded in 1708 when a large silver ore deposit was discovered by the Spanish explorer José de la Cruz. Although there is a reddish-copper hue in the geologic formations, the area was, and still is, mined primarily for silver and to a lesser extent, gold. Mexico is the largest silver-producing country in the world.

El Chepe

The Copper Canyon is remote, and access to the bottom of the canyon is poor; there are no paved roads and the few dirt roads are not well maintained. After many years of planning and construction, starting in 1861, interrupted by the Mexican Revolution (1910-21), and completed a century later in 1961, the Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacifico (Chihuahua-Pacific Railway) runs 650 km (±400 miles from Creel in the Canyon to the coast at Los Mochis. The train is called El Chepe (a contraction of Chihuahua al Pacifico), and crosses 37 bridges and travels through 86 tunnels.

The trip is particularly spectacular between Los Mochis and Divisadero. Vegetation is diverse due to the highly variable topography, with oak/pine/fir woodlands dominating at the higher elevations and herbaceous pastures in the riparian areas deep in the canyons, accompanied by subtropical vegetation. Species of agave and cactus dot the landscape in the rocky habitat. El Chepe recently added a new luxury train, mostly intended to accommodate tourists; it features a bar car with panoramic views.

María Lorena Ramírez Hernández

María Lorena Ramírez Hernández, better known as Lorena Ramírez, is a remarkable indigenous marathon runner who gained worldwide renown in 2017 after winning two gold medals in tough Mexican mountain races. One medal was for the UltraTrail Cerro Rojo in the state of Puebla (just over 50 km [±31 mi]), which she ran in 7 hours, 20 minutes, barefoot; the other gold medal was for the UltraMaratón de los Cañones, a brutal 100 km (±62 mi) in Guachochi, Chihuahua, near where she was born. Her time was 12:44:25. She had won the silver medal in the UltraMaratón in 2016, and went on to win a silver in the Ultramaratón Caballo Blanco, in Urique, Chihuahua, in 2018. In 2023, she placed first in the Ultratrail Sierra del Laurel in Calvillo, Aguascalientes, a distance of 42 km (±26 mi) in 5:58:17.

In June of 2017, on the heels of her two gold medals, Lorena became the first Rarámuri woman to compete in a European ultra. The Ultramaratón de Cajamar Tenerife, the “Bluetrail,” is the second-highest race in Europe and a distance of 102 km. (63 mi.). She placed third in 20:11:37.

A Family of Runners

The Ramírez family lives in Guachochi, an isolated valley with no neighbors in the bottom of the canyon. Lorena and her siblings Juanita, Talina, Mario, and Antonio walk five hours to the nearest school and four hours to the nearest grocery. Her brothers attended school while she and her sisters tended to the goats, the center of their pastoral life, while also cultivating corn, beans, squash, and greens among other crops on their farm. The family are for the most part self-sufficient. A perennial creek runs through their property, providing a clean source of water. The women of the family sew their own traditional dresses – Lorena dons a lighter version of the traditional skirt when she competes.

Lorena’s father, Santiago Ramírez, took her to compete in her first race of 7 km (4.3 mi) in the municipality of Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, which she won, having no idea of her capabilities at the time. Although she never dreamed of being a runner or marathoner, she was born into it. She comes from a family of runners, as they run everywhere around their rural property. Her father has won the Ultramaratón de los Cañones three times, the brutal 102-km cross country trail that gave her that second gold medal.

The Ramírez family members have won various races without the government’s help, commercial sponsorship, or professional training; they have achieved success due to their talent, perseverance, and lifestyle, which is very physical. To support travel to various events, they receive donations through their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/mario.ramirez.71066700.

When Lorena first started winning races, she and her family saw the prize money as a way to buy food. They have moved on – in 2019, when she was 22, she was profiled in the excellent 2019 Netflix documentary Lorena, Light-Footed Woman. The executive producer for this 30-minute documentary was the well-known Mexican actor, director, and producer Gael García Bernal (If you have never seen his breakout movie Y tu mamá también [2001], do so. Playa Cacaluta makes a cameo appearance). In 2019, Lorena was also the cover story in Vogue Mexico; in June 2022, she began marketing her brand of running outfits, called Lorena imparable (unstoppable Lorena).

Quiet and unassuming, Lorena says she does not think about anything when she runs, that it just feels good, and she stays focused on the objective of the race: getting to the finish line.

Upon receiving a gift of high-tech running shoes, she rewrapped them, placed the box back in the plastic bag and explained “I don’t think I will use them. The people who do are always running behind me.”

The next Ultramaratón de los Cañones will take place on July 5-7, 2024. Vamos a ver – We shall see.