In 2009 Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run changed how people look at running. Through observation of the Tarhumara indigenous group in northern Mexico, McDougall reached the conclusion that instead of protecting us, the cushioned running shoes used by most people are actually more likely to cause injury. The reason for this is that they force us to run differently from the way that evolution has chosen for us. Instead, argues McDougall, we should imitate the Tarhumara, who run distances greater than one hundred miles barefoot or on thin sandals. With limited or no footwear, McDougall believes, we harken back to our ancestors who used endurance running to move across savannahs and to hunt by running their prey to exhaustion. McDougall’s book was controversial, but nevertheless was influential in the creation of more reduced shoes and barefoot racers.
I don’t know if Jorge Drexler is a runner. That said, as he describes in the video below, he saw a natural connection between his song “Movimiento” and a particular runner from the Tarhumara. Lorena Ramírez is a Rarámuri runner who has competed in various ultramarathons, including winning the 100-kilometer race Los Cañones de Guachochi in July 2017. Said simply, for me it is amazing when anyone runs such a distance. That understood, it is more impressive that she did it faster than people who have dedicated their lives to the sport and enjoy the benefits of support teams and expensive equipment.
Yet, that is just the thing: As Drexler points out, running for Ms. Ramírez is not a sport or an exercise, but instead it is an act of culture. Drexler argues that the Tarhumara move to keep their culture alive. It is thanks to their running that they can survive in a remote place. They live in that place to distance themselves from influence and other forces that otherwise would destroy what they are. Or, as Drexler describes the impetus in the context of his music:
I don’t know if Jorge Drexler is a runner. That said, as he describes in the video below, he saw a natural connection between his song “Movimiento” and a particular runner from the Tarhumara. Lorena Ramírez is a Rarámuri runner who has competed in various ultramarathons, including winning the 100-kilometer race Los Cañones de Guachochi in July 2017. Said simply, for me it is amazing when anyone runs such a distance. That understood, it is more impressive that she did it faster than people who have dedicated their lives to the sport and enjoy the benefits of support teams and expensive equipment.
Yet, that is just the thing: As Drexler points out, running for Ms. Ramírez is not a sport or an exercise, but instead it is an act of culture. Drexler argues that the Tarhumara move to keep their culture alive. It is thanks to their running that they can survive in a remote place. They live in that place to distance themselves from influence and other forces that otherwise would destroy what they are. Or, as Drexler describes the impetus in the context of his music:
Para mantener viva una cultura, tenía que desplazarse. [...] Necesitaba moverse para sobrevivir.
In this sense -similar to how McDougall describes- Ms. Ramírez is a connection between us and another way of life. She meets people from outside her culture on the paths of an ultramarathon and, in doing so, she teaches us all a lesson about living. For Drexler that lesson seems to be one about the movement of people around the world. Without moving, we die and it is thanks to movement that cultures survive. In the end, similar to Ms. Ramírez bringing her cultural traditions to an ultramarathon, our cultural identity is an amalgamation. Drexler’s music seems to reflect this as he incorporates influences from around the world. It is interesting that his focus on an indigenous woman seems to conclude with the idea that instead of being from a place, all of us are the product of many cultures that are in a constant state of exchange. From the song’s lyrics:
Estamos vivos porque estamos en movimiento. [...] Yo no soy de aquí, pero tú tampoco. [...] De ningún lado todo, de todos los lados, un poco.
The following video is Drexler describing the thought process that connected “Movimiento” to Ms. Ramírez. At the end of his description, you’ll find the music video that was the result of the collaboration. It is at once beautiful while also capable of making you ask yourself what you were born to do.
