The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon (video)

While visiting the state of Chihuahua in Mexico I had the opportunity to witness the Raramuri doing what they do best: running. Known to be some of the best trail runners in the world, the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon challenges elite trail runners to run against the Tarahumara in several events, the main ones being the 63 km and 100 km races. I had not planned to run at all, but once there decided to run the 21km half marathon, the longest distance I had ever run in my life and with no training at all.

A few hours after signing up I learned that the half marathon does not take place in Copper Canyon but at the top of it, ending in the small town of Guachohi. I was disappointed at this because the purpose of participating was to feel the excitement and the challenge running in the Canyon poses to all athletes. Still, the race proved to be challenging enough for me and after running for just over 2 hours in sandals I could still not understand how the Raramuri can run 100km in even simpler shoes than mine.  I ended up with knee pain that has lasted for weeks but surprisingly I did not get as many blisters as I expected. I took a small camera with me during the race, and in this video you can see what my experience was like.

Have you ever run a half marathon? More than this? Would you run the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon? What keeps you going when fatigue crawls in? What do you think about the Raramuri runners, both male and female? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below, and this post too if you liked it!

My participation in this race was possible thanks to the Chihuahua Tourism Board who sponsored my trip across the state.