0:00:06.569,0:00:08.697
I'm going to talk about[br]reinventing running.

0:00:08.722,0:00:11.585
You know, it's basically just[br]right, left, right, left, yeah?

0:00:11.595,0:00:14.024
I mean, we've been doing it[br]for two million years,

0:00:14.048,0:00:17.594
so it's kind of arrogant to assume[br]that I've got something to say

0:00:17.618,0:00:20.838
that hasn't been said and performed[br]better a long time ago.

0:00:20.933,0:00:23.491
But the cool thing about running,[br]as I've discovered,

0:00:23.516,0:00:27.101
is that something bizarre happens[br]in this activity all the time.

0:00:27.125,0:00:30.700
Case in point: A couple months ago,[br]if you saw the New York City Marathon,

0:00:30.724,0:00:34.312
I guarantee you, you saw something[br]that no one has ever seen before.

0:00:34.927,0:00:39.281
An Ethiopian woman named Derartu Tulu[br]turns up at the starting line.

0:00:39.962,0:00:41.314
She's 37 years old.

0:00:41.338,0:00:44.024
She hasn't won a marathon[br]of any kind in eight years,

0:00:44.048,0:00:45.476
and a few months previously,

0:00:45.500,0:00:47.476
she had almost died in childbirth.

0:00:47.500,0:00:50.991
Derartu Tulu was ready to hang it up[br]and retire from the sport,

0:00:51.015,0:00:52.887
but she decided she'd go for broke

0:00:52.911,0:00:56.699
and try for one last big payday[br]in the marquee event,

0:00:56.723,0:00:58.338
the New York City Marathon.

0:00:58.362,0:01:02.076
Except -- bad news for Derartu Tulu --[br]some other people had the same idea,

0:01:02.100,0:01:03.954
including the Olympic gold medalist,

0:01:03.978,0:01:07.076
and Paula Radcliffe, who is a monster,

0:01:07.100,0:01:10.672
the fastest woman marathoner[br]in history by far.

0:01:10.696,0:01:12.973
Only 10 minutes[br]off the men's world record,

0:01:12.997,0:01:15.901
Paula Radcliffe is essentially unbeatable.

0:01:16.543,0:01:18.076
That's her competition.

0:01:18.100,0:01:21.048
The gun goes off, and -- I mean,[br]she's not even an underdog;

0:01:21.072,0:01:22.887
she's, like, under the underdogs.

0:01:22.911,0:01:24.956
But the under-underdog hangs tough,

0:01:24.980,0:01:27.791
and 22 miles into a 26-mile race,

0:01:27.815,0:01:30.711
there is Derartu Tulu,[br]up there with the lead pack.

0:01:31.504,0:01:34.195
Now, this is when something[br]really bizarre happens.

0:01:34.219,0:01:37.981
Paula Radcliffe, the one person[br]who is sure to snatch the big paycheck

0:01:38.005,0:01:41.076
from Derartu Tulu's under-underdog hands,

0:01:41.100,0:01:43.497
suddenly grabs her leg[br]and starts to fall back.

0:01:43.521,0:01:45.932
So we all know what to do[br]in this situation, right?

0:01:45.956,0:01:48.642
You give her a quick crack[br]in the teeth with your elbow

0:01:48.666,0:01:50.165
and blaze for the finish line.

0:01:50.489,0:01:52.679
Derartu Tulu ruins the script.

0:01:52.703,0:01:54.152
Instead of taking off,

0:01:54.176,0:01:56.425
she falls back and she grabs[br]Paula Radcliffe,

0:01:56.449,0:01:58.787
and says, "Come on.[br]Come with us. You can do it."

0:01:58.811,0:02:01.222
So Paula Radcliffe,[br]unfortunately, does it.

0:02:01.246,0:02:02.859
She catches up with the lead pack

0:02:02.883,0:02:04.746
and is pushing toward the finish line.

0:02:04.770,0:02:06.289
But then she falls back again.

0:02:06.313,0:02:09.305
The second time, Derartu Tulu[br]grabs her and tries to pull her.

0:02:09.329,0:02:12.167
And Paula Radcliffe, at that point,[br]says, "I'm done. Go."

0:02:12.711,0:02:15.467
So that's a fantastic story,[br]and we all know how it ends.

0:02:15.491,0:02:16.781
She loses the check,

0:02:16.805,0:02:19.730
but she goes home with something[br]bigger and more important.

0:02:19.754,0:02:22.250
Except Derartu Tulu[br]ruins the script again.

0:02:22.274,0:02:25.774
Instead of losing, she blazes[br]past the lead pack and wins.

0:02:25.798,0:02:27.460
Wins the New York City Marathon,

0:02:27.484,0:02:29.118
goes home with a big fat check.

0:02:29.877,0:02:31.413
It's a heartwarming story,

0:02:31.437,0:02:33.414
but if you drill a little bit deeper,

0:02:33.438,0:02:36.846
you've got to sort of wonder[br]about what exactly was going on there.

0:02:36.870,0:02:39.005
When you have two outliers[br]in one organism,

0:02:39.029,0:02:40.403
it's not a coincidence.

0:02:40.427,0:02:43.918
When you have someone who is more[br]competitive and more compassionate

0:02:43.942,0:02:46.919
than anybody else in the race,[br]again, it's not a coincidence.

0:02:46.943,0:02:49.386
You show me a creature[br]with webbed feet and gills;

0:02:49.410,0:02:51.058
somehow water's involved.

0:02:51.082,0:02:54.464
Someone with that kind of heart,[br]there's some kind of connection there.

0:02:54.488,0:02:57.055
And the answer to it,[br]I think, can be found

0:02:57.079,0:02:59.488
down in the Copper Canyons of Mexico,

0:02:59.512,0:03:03.389
where there's a reclusive tribe,[br]called the Tarahumara Indians.

0:03:03.413,0:03:06.972
Now, the Tarahumara[br]are remarkable for three things.

0:03:06.996,0:03:08.471
Number one is:

0:03:08.495,0:03:12.701
they have been living essentially[br]unchanged for the past 400 years.

0:03:12.725,0:03:16.339
When the conquistadors arrived[br]in North America you had two choices:

0:03:16.363,0:03:19.076
you either fight back and engage[br]or you could take off.

0:03:19.100,0:03:20.958
The Mayans and Aztecs engaged,

0:03:20.982,0:03:23.428
which is why there are very few[br]Mayans and Aztecs.

0:03:23.452,0:03:25.437
The Tarahumara had a different strategy.

0:03:25.461,0:03:27.325
They took off and hid

0:03:27.349,0:03:32.204
in this labyrinthine, networking,[br]spider-webbing system of canyons

0:03:32.228,0:03:33.629
called the Copper Canyons.

0:03:33.653,0:03:37.076
And there they've remained[br]since the 1600s,

0:03:37.100,0:03:39.703
essentially the same way[br]they've always been.

0:03:40.521,0:03:43.678
The second thing remarkable[br]about the Tarahumara is:

0:03:43.702,0:03:46.830
deep into old age -- 70 to 80 years old --

0:03:46.854,0:03:48.831
these guys aren't running marathons;

0:03:48.855,0:03:50.702
they're running mega-marathons.

0:03:50.726,0:03:52.371
They're not doing 26 miles,

0:03:52.395,0:03:55.017
they're doing 100, 150 miles at a time,

0:03:55.041,0:03:57.510
and apparently without injury,[br]without problems.

0:03:58.156,0:04:00.872
The last thing that's remarkable[br]about the Tarahumara is:

0:04:00.896,0:04:03.413
all the things we're going[br]to be talking about today,

0:04:03.437,0:04:06.242
all the things we're trying to use[br]all of our technology

0:04:06.266,0:04:07.604
and brain power to solve --

0:04:07.628,0:04:10.178
things like heart disease[br]and cholesterol and cancer;

0:04:10.202,0:04:13.800
crime, warfare and violence;[br]clinical depression -- all this stuff --

0:04:13.824,0:04:16.296
the Tarahumara don't know[br]what you're talking about.

0:04:16.320,0:04:20.076
They are free from all[br]of these modern ailments.

0:04:20.928,0:04:22.157
So what's the connection?

0:04:22.181,0:04:23.919
Again, we're talking about outliers;

0:04:23.943,0:04:26.234
there's got to be some kind[br]of cause and effect.

0:04:26.258,0:04:30.076
Well, there are teams of scientists[br]at Harvard and the University of Utah

0:04:30.100,0:04:32.680
that are bending their brains[br]and trying to figure out

0:04:32.704,0:04:34.647
what the Tarahumara have known forever.

0:04:34.671,0:04:37.335
They're trying to solve[br]those same kinds of mysteries.

0:04:37.359,0:04:40.782
And once again, a mystery[br]wrapped inside of a mystery --

0:04:40.806,0:04:43.925
perhaps the key to Derartu Tulu[br]and the Tarahumara

0:04:43.949,0:04:46.586
is wrapped in three other[br]mysteries, which go like this:

0:04:46.610,0:04:50.019
Three things -- if you have the answer,[br]come up and take the microphone,

0:04:50.043,0:04:51.872
because nobody else knows the answer.

0:04:51.896,0:04:54.781
If you know it, you're smarter[br]than anybody on planet Earth.

0:04:54.805,0:04:56.228
Mystery number one is this:

0:04:56.252,0:04:59.006
Two million years ago,[br]the human brain exploded in size.

0:04:59.030,0:05:01.141
Australopithecus[br]had a tiny little pea brain.

0:05:01.165,0:05:04.211
Suddenly humans show up,[br]Homo erectus, big old melon head.

0:05:04.235,0:05:05.758
To have a brain of that size,

0:05:05.782,0:05:09.385
you need to have a source[br]of condensed caloric energy.

0:05:09.409,0:05:12.030
In other words, early humans[br]are eating dead animals --

0:05:12.054,0:05:13.386
no argument, that's a fact.

0:05:14.100,0:05:15.317
The only problem is,

0:05:15.341,0:05:18.931
the first edged weapons only appeared[br]about 200,000 years ago.

0:05:18.955,0:05:21.650
So somehow, for nearly two million years,

0:05:21.674,0:05:24.345
we are killing animals[br]without any weapons.

0:05:24.369,0:05:26.069
Now, we're not using our strength,

0:05:26.093,0:05:28.451
because we are the biggest[br]sissies in the jungle.

0:05:28.475,0:05:30.517
Every other animal[br]is stronger than we are,

0:05:30.541,0:05:33.971
they have fangs, they have claws,[br]they have nimbleness, they have speed.

0:05:33.995,0:05:35.366
We think Usain Bolt is fast.

0:05:35.390,0:05:37.734
Usain Bolt can get[br]his ass kicked by a squirrel.

0:05:37.758,0:05:38.909
We're not fast.

0:05:38.933,0:05:40.424
That would be an Olympic event:

0:05:40.448,0:05:43.285
turn a squirrel loose,[br]whoever catches it gets a gold medal.

0:05:43.309,0:05:44.324
(Laughter)

0:05:44.348,0:05:47.066
So no weapons, no speed,[br]no strength, no fangs, no claws.

0:05:47.090,0:05:49.732
How were we killing these animals?[br]Mystery number one.

0:05:49.756,0:05:51.197
Mystery number two:

0:05:51.221,0:05:54.274
Women have been in the Olympics[br]for quite some time now,

0:05:54.298,0:05:57.106
but one thing that's remarkable[br]about all women sprinters:

0:05:57.130,0:05:58.885
they all suck; they're terrible.

0:05:58.909,0:06:02.637
There's not a fast woman on the planet[br]and there never has been.

0:06:02.661,0:06:05.638
The fastest woman[br]to ever run a mile did it in 4:15.

0:06:05.662,0:06:07.880
I could throw a rock[br]and hit a high-school boy

0:06:07.904,0:06:09.400
who can run faster than 4:15.

0:06:09.424,0:06:11.615
For some reason,[br]you guys are just really slow.

0:06:11.639,0:06:12.797
But --

0:06:12.821,0:06:13.880
(Laughter)

0:06:13.904,0:06:16.650
But, you get to the marathon[br]we were just talking about --

0:06:16.674,0:06:19.452
you've only been allowed to run[br]the marathon for 20 years,

0:06:19.476,0:06:21.747
because prior to the 1980s,[br]medical science said

0:06:21.771,0:06:25.135
if a woman tried to run 26 miles --[br]does anyone know what would happen

0:06:25.159,0:06:26.592
if you tried to run 26 miles?

0:06:26.616,0:06:29.232
Why you were banned[br]from the marathon before the 1980s?

0:06:29.256,0:06:31.342
Audience Member: Her uterus would be torn.

0:06:31.366,0:06:33.894
Christopher McDougall:[br]Her uterus would be torn, yes.

0:06:33.918,0:06:35.158
Torn reproductive organs.

0:06:35.182,0:06:37.441
The uterus would literally[br]fall out of the body.

0:06:37.465,0:06:38.486
(Laughter)

0:06:38.510,0:06:40.329
Now, I've been to a lot of marathons,

0:06:40.353,0:06:41.994
and I've yet to see any ...

0:06:42.018,0:06:44.927
(Laughter)

0:06:44.951,0:06:46.318
So it's only been 20 years

0:06:46.342,0:06:48.721
that women have been allowed[br]to run the marathon.

0:06:48.745,0:06:52.766
In that very short learning curve,[br]you've gone from broken organs

0:06:52.790,0:06:56.591
up to the fact that you're only 10 minutes[br]off the male world record.

0:06:56.615,0:06:58.920
Then you go beyond 26 miles,[br]into the distance

0:06:58.944,0:07:01.877
that medical science also told us[br]would be fatal to humans --

0:07:01.901,0:07:04.267
remember Pheidippides died[br]when he ran 26 miles --

0:07:04.291,0:07:07.559
you get to 50 and 100 miles,[br]and suddenly, it's a different game.

0:07:07.583,0:07:10.826
You take a runner like Ann Trason[br]or Nikki Kimball or Jenn Shelton,

0:07:10.850,0:07:14.277
put them in a race of 50 or 100 miles[br]against anybody in the world,

0:07:14.301,0:07:16.278
and it's a coin toss who's going to win.

0:07:16.302,0:07:17.648
I'll give you an example.

0:07:17.672,0:07:20.187
A couple years ago,[br]Emily Baer signed up for a race

0:07:20.211,0:07:21.901
called the Hardrock 100,

0:07:21.925,0:07:24.487
which tells you all you need[br]to know about the race.

0:07:24.511,0:07:26.550
They give you 48 hours[br]to finish this race.

0:07:26.574,0:07:28.479
Well, Emily Baer -- 500 runners --

0:07:28.503,0:07:30.850
she finishes in eighth place,[br]in the top 10,

0:07:30.874,0:07:33.128
even though she stopped[br]at all the aid stations

0:07:33.152,0:07:35.047
to breastfeed her baby during the race.

0:07:35.071,0:07:36.085
(Laughter)

0:07:36.109,0:07:37.807
And yet, she beat 492 other people.

0:07:38.331,0:07:39.488
The last mystery:

0:07:39.512,0:07:42.296
Why is it that women get stronger[br]as distances get longer?

0:07:42.320,0:07:43.656
The third mystery is this:

0:07:43.680,0:07:47.148
At the University of Utah,[br]they started tracking finishing times

0:07:47.172,0:07:48.832
for people running the marathon.

0:07:48.856,0:07:52.663
What they found is that if you start[br]running the marathon at age 19,

0:07:52.687,0:07:54.940
you'll get progressively[br]faster, year by year,

0:07:54.964,0:07:56.941
until you reach your peak at age 27.

0:07:56.965,0:08:00.941
And then after that,[br]you succumb to the rigors of time.

0:08:00.965,0:08:02.557
And you'll get slower and slower,

0:08:02.581,0:08:06.170
until eventually you're back to running[br]the same speed you were at age 19.

0:08:06.194,0:08:08.435
So about seven, eight years[br]to reach your peak,

0:08:08.459,0:08:10.535
and then gradually you fall off your peak,

0:08:10.559,0:08:12.837
until you go back to the starting point.

0:08:12.861,0:08:16.081
You'd think it might take eight years[br]to go back to the same speed,

0:08:16.105,0:08:18.837
maybe 10 years -- no, it's 45 years.

0:08:18.861,0:08:20.838
64-year-old men and women

0:08:20.862,0:08:23.901
are running as fast[br]as they were at age 19.

0:08:23.925,0:08:26.913
Now, I defy you to come[br]up with any other physical activity --

0:08:26.937,0:08:29.899
and please don't say golf --[br]something that's actually hard --

0:08:29.923,0:08:30.971
(Laughter)

0:08:30.995,0:08:35.542
where geriatrics are performing[br]as well as they did as teenagers.

0:08:35.566,0:08:37.366
So you have these three mysteries.

0:08:37.861,0:08:41.837
Is there one piece in the puzzle[br]which might wrap all these things up?

0:08:42.140,0:08:45.229
You've got to be careful anytime[br]someone looks back in prehistory

0:08:45.253,0:08:47.559
and tries to give you[br]a global answer because,

0:08:47.583,0:08:50.370
it being prehistory, you can say[br]whatever the hell you want

0:08:50.394,0:08:51.553
and get away with it.

0:08:51.577,0:08:52.943
But I'll submit this to you:

0:08:52.967,0:08:55.668
If you put one piece in the middle[br]of this jigsaw puzzle,

0:08:55.692,0:08:58.070
suddenly it all starts[br]to form a coherent picture.

0:08:58.094,0:09:00.482
If you're wondering[br]why the Tarahumara don't fight

0:09:00.506,0:09:02.030
and don't die of heart disease,

0:09:02.054,0:09:04.814
why a poor Ethiopian[br]woman named Derartu Tulu

0:09:04.838,0:09:07.667
can be the most compassionate[br]and yet the most competitive,

0:09:07.691,0:09:11.514
and why we somehow were able[br]to find food without weapons,

0:09:11.538,0:09:13.515
perhaps it's because humans,

0:09:13.539,0:09:16.761
as much as we like to think of ourselves[br]as masters of the universe,

0:09:16.785,0:09:20.203
actually evolved as nothing more[br]than a pack of hunting dogs.

0:09:20.608,0:09:24.062
Maybe we evolved as a hunting pack animal.

0:09:24.433,0:09:27.009
Because the one advantage[br]we have in the wilderness --

0:09:27.033,0:09:29.489
again, it's not our fangs,[br]our claws or our speed --

0:09:29.513,0:09:31.838
the only thing we do really well is sweat.

0:09:31.862,0:09:34.640
We're really good[br]at being sweaty and smelly.

0:09:34.664,0:09:37.902
Better than any other mammal[br]on Earth, we can sweat really well.

0:09:37.926,0:09:41.790
But the advantage of that little bit[br]of social discomfort

0:09:41.814,0:09:46.921
is the fact that, when it comes to running[br]under hot heat for long distances,

0:09:46.945,0:09:49.189
we're superb -- the best on the planet.

0:09:49.213,0:09:51.298
You take a horse on a hot day,

0:09:51.322,0:09:54.210
and after about five or six miles,[br]that horse has a choice:

0:09:54.234,0:09:56.887
it's either going to breathe[br]or it's going to cool off.

0:09:56.911,0:09:58.489
But it ain't doing both. We can.

0:09:58.878,0:10:01.855
So what if we evolved[br]as hunting pack animals?

0:10:01.879,0:10:05.504
What if the only natural advantage[br]we had in the world

0:10:05.528,0:10:07.925
was the fact that we could[br]get together as a group,

0:10:07.949,0:10:10.937
go out there on that African savanna,[br]pick out an antelope,

0:10:10.961,0:10:13.470
go out as a pack,[br]and run that thing to death?

0:10:14.216,0:10:15.672
That's all we could do.

0:10:15.696,0:10:17.673
We could run really far on a hot day.

0:10:17.697,0:10:20.897
Well, if that's true, a couple[br]other things had to be true as well.

0:10:20.921,0:10:23.750
The key to being part[br]of a hunting pack is the word "pack."

0:10:23.774,0:10:26.382
If you go out by yourself[br]and try to chase an antelope,

0:10:26.406,0:10:29.263
I guarantee there will be two cadavers[br]out in the savanna.

0:10:29.287,0:10:30.930
You need a pack to pull together.

0:10:30.954,0:10:33.182
You need to have[br]those 64- and 65-year-olds

0:10:33.206,0:10:35.185
who have been doing this for a long time

0:10:35.209,0:10:37.701
to understand which antelope[br]you're trying to catch.

0:10:37.725,0:10:39.826
The herd explodes[br]and it gathers back again.

0:10:39.850,0:10:42.218
Those expert trackers[br]have to be part of the pack.

0:10:42.242,0:10:43.706
They can't be 10 miles behind.

0:10:43.730,0:10:45.914
You need the women[br]and the adolescents there,

0:10:45.938,0:10:49.330
because the two times in your life[br]you most benefit from animal protein

0:10:49.354,0:10:52.225
is when you're a nursing mother[br]and a developing adolescent.

0:10:52.249,0:10:54.899
It makes no sense to have[br]the antelope over there, dead,

0:10:54.923,0:10:57.176
and the people who want[br]to eat it 50 miles away.

0:10:57.200,0:10:58.783
They need to be part of the pack.

0:10:58.807,0:11:01.644
You need those 27-year-old studs[br]at the peak of their powers

0:11:01.668,0:11:02.824
ready to drop the kill,

0:11:02.848,0:11:06.279
and you need those teenagers[br]who are learning the whole thing involved.

0:11:06.303,0:11:07.459
The pack stays together.

0:11:07.483,0:11:10.839
Another thing that has to be true:[br]this pack cannot be materialistic.

0:11:10.863,0:11:14.292
You can't be hauling all your crap around,[br]trying to chase the antelope.

0:11:14.316,0:11:15.802
You can't be a pissed-off pack.

0:11:15.826,0:11:19.265
You can't be bearing grudges, like,[br]"I'm not chasing that guy's antelope.

0:11:19.289,0:11:21.811
He pissed me off.[br]Let him go chase his own antelope."

0:11:21.835,0:11:24.458
The pack has got to be able[br]to swallow its ego,

0:11:24.600,0:11:26.378
be cooperative, and pull together.

0:11:27.119,0:11:29.747
What you end up with, in other words,

0:11:29.771,0:11:33.544
is a culture remarkably similar[br]to the Tarahumara,

0:11:33.568,0:11:37.147
a tribe that has remained[br]unchanged since the Stone Age.

0:11:37.784,0:11:39.411
It's a really compelling argument

0:11:39.435,0:11:43.083
that maybe the Tarahumara are doing[br]exactly what all of us had done

0:11:43.107,0:11:44.265
for two million years,

0:11:44.289,0:11:47.333
that it's us in modern times[br]who have sort of gone off the path.

0:11:47.357,0:11:50.638
You know, we look at running[br]as this kind of alien, foreign thing,

0:11:50.662,0:11:54.131
this punishment you've got to do[br]because you ate pizza the night before.

0:11:54.155,0:11:55.847
But maybe it's something different.

0:11:55.871,0:11:58.968
Maybe we're the ones who have taken[br]this natural advantage we had

0:11:58.992,0:12:00.320
and we spoiled it.

0:12:00.904,0:12:03.448
How do we spoil it?[br]Well, how do we spoil anything?

0:12:03.472,0:12:05.036
We try to cash in on it. Right?

0:12:05.060,0:12:07.826
We try to can it and package it[br]and make it "better"

0:12:07.850,0:12:09.239
and then sell it to people.

0:12:09.263,0:12:11.757
And then what happened was,[br]we started creating

0:12:11.781,0:12:15.215
these fancy cushioned things[br]which can make running "better,"

0:12:15.239,0:12:16.655
called running shoes.

0:12:16.679,0:12:19.611
The reason I get personally[br]pissed-off about running shoes

0:12:19.635,0:12:22.612
is because I bought a million of them[br]and I kept getting hurt.

0:12:22.636,0:12:24.613
And I think if anybody in here runs --

0:12:24.637,0:12:26.417
I just had a conversation with Carol.

0:12:26.441,0:12:30.072
We talked for two minutes backstage,[br]and she talked about plantar fasciitis.

0:12:30.096,0:12:32.647
You talk to a runner,[br]I guarantee within 30 seconds,

0:12:32.671,0:12:34.300
the conversation turns to injury.

0:12:34.324,0:12:37.611
So if humans evolved as runners,[br]if that's our one natural advantage,

0:12:37.635,0:12:39.108
then why are we so bad at it?

0:12:39.132,0:12:40.743
Why do we keep getting hurt?

0:12:40.767,0:12:43.139
A curious thing about running[br]and running injuries

0:12:43.163,0:12:45.651
is that the running injury[br]is new to our time.

0:12:45.675,0:12:47.499
If you read folklore and mythology,

0:12:47.523,0:12:49.524
any kind of myths, any kind of tall tales,

0:12:49.548,0:12:53.156
running is always associated[br]with freedom and vitality

0:12:53.180,0:12:54.976
and youthfulness and eternal vigor.

0:12:55.000,0:12:57.894
It's only in our lifetime[br]that running has become associated

0:12:57.918,0:12:59.073
with fear and pain.

0:12:59.097,0:13:03.208
Geronimo used to say, "My only friends[br]are my legs. I only trust my legs."

0:13:03.232,0:13:06.851
That's because an Apache triathlon[br]used to be you'd run 50 miles

0:13:06.875,0:13:08.026
across the desert,

0:13:08.050,0:13:10.662
engage in hand-to-hand combat,[br]steal a bunch of horses,

0:13:10.686,0:13:12.016
and slap leather for home.

0:13:12.040,0:13:15.765
Geronimo was never saying, "You know[br]something, my Achilles -- I'm tapering.

0:13:15.789,0:13:17.349
I've got to take this week off."

0:13:17.373,0:13:20.390
Or, "I need to cross-train.[br]I didn't do yoga. I'm not ready."

0:13:20.414,0:13:21.817
(Laughter)

0:13:21.841,0:13:23.666
Humans ran and ran all the time.

0:13:23.690,0:13:26.187
We are here today.[br]We have our digital technology.

0:13:26.211,0:13:28.122
All of our science comes from the fact

0:13:28.146,0:13:31.976
that our ancestors were able to do[br]something extraordinary every day,

0:13:32.000,0:13:34.429
which was just rely[br]on their naked feet and legs

0:13:34.453,0:13:35.899
to run long distances.

0:13:35.923,0:13:37.722
So how do we get back to that again?

0:13:37.746,0:13:39.958
Well, I would submit[br]to you the first thing is:

0:13:39.982,0:13:42.807
get rid of all packaging,[br]all the sales, all the marketing.

0:13:42.831,0:13:44.903
Get rid of all the stinking running shoes.

0:13:44.927,0:13:46.880
Stop focusing on urban marathons,

0:13:46.904,0:13:49.700
which, if you do four hours, you suck,

0:13:49.724,0:13:51.677
and if you do 3:59:59, you're awesome,

0:13:51.701,0:13:53.880
because you qualified for another race.

0:13:54.000,0:13:57.000
We need to get back to that sense[br]of playfulness and joyfulness

0:13:57.024,0:13:59.894
and, I would say, nakedness,

0:13:59.918,0:14:01.820
that has made the Tarahumara

0:14:01.844,0:14:04.423
one of the healthiest and serene[br]cultures in our time.

0:14:05.224,0:14:06.845
So what's the benefit? So what?

0:14:06.869,0:14:09.738
So you burn off the Häagen-Dazs[br]from the night before.

0:14:09.762,0:14:12.184
But maybe there's another[br]benefit there as well.

0:14:12.208,0:14:15.341
Without getting too extreme about this,

0:14:15.365,0:14:19.976
imagine a world where everybody[br]could go out the door

0:14:20.000,0:14:21.976
and engage in the kind of exercise

0:14:22.000,0:14:24.976
that's going to make them[br]more relaxed, more serene,

0:14:25.000,0:14:26.305
more healthy,

0:14:26.329,0:14:27.641
burn off stress --

0:14:27.665,0:14:30.854
where you don't come back into your office[br]a raging maniac anymore,

0:14:30.878,0:14:33.362
or go home with a lot of stress[br]on top of you again.

0:14:33.386,0:14:35.717
Maybe there's something[br]between what we are today

0:14:35.741,0:14:38.249
and what the Tarahumara have always been.

0:14:38.273,0:14:40.502
I don't say let's go back[br]to the Copper Canyons

0:14:40.526,0:14:45.331
and live on corn and maize,[br]which is the Tarahumara's preferred diet,

0:14:45.635,0:14:47.715
but maybe there's somewhere in between.

0:14:47.739,0:14:49.406
And if we find that thing,

0:14:49.430,0:14:52.010
maybe there is a big fat[br]Nobel Prize out there.

0:14:52.034,0:14:56.921
Because if somebody could find a way[br]to restore that natural ability

0:14:56.945,0:14:59.117
that we all enjoyed[br]for most of our existence

0:14:59.141,0:15:00.712
up until the 1970s or so,

0:15:00.736,0:15:06.127
the benefits -- social and physical[br]and political and mental --

0:15:06.151,0:15:07.424
could be astounding.

0:15:07.448,0:15:11.517
What I've been seeing today[br]is there is a growing subculture

0:15:11.541,0:15:14.460
of barefoot runners,[br]people who've gotten rid of their shoes.

0:15:14.484,0:15:16.370
And what they have found uniformly is,

0:15:16.394,0:15:18.921
you get rid of the shoes,[br]you get rid of the stress,

0:15:18.945,0:15:21.413
you get rid of the injuries[br]and the ailments.

0:15:21.437,0:15:24.227
And what you find is something[br]the Tarahumara have known

0:15:24.251,0:15:25.416
for a very long time:

0:15:25.440,0:15:27.202
that this can be a whole lot of fun.

0:15:29.226,0:15:31.053
I've experienced it personally myself.

0:15:31.077,0:15:34.433
I was injured all my life; then[br]in my early 40s, I got rid of my shoes

0:15:34.457,0:15:36.676
and my running ailments[br]have gone away, too.

0:15:36.700,0:15:39.258
So hopefully it's something[br]we can all benefit from.

0:15:39.282,0:15:41.324
I appreciate your listening to this story.

0:15:41.348,0:15:42.499
Thanks very much.

0:15:42.523,0:15:44.514
(Applause)