Resumo

ACUNA DELGADO, Ángel. Correr para vivir: el dilema rarámuri. Desacatos [online]. 2003, n.12, pp.130-146. ISSN 2448-5144.

"If you don't endure, you're worthless!" says an old Raramuri principle. This etnic group lives in the Sierra Tarahumara, located in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico. Immerse in an ecologically tough environment for survival, it is assumed that "to survive you must be resistant"; put up with water and food shortage provoked by drought, intense night cold in winter, and long treks across the mountains. For centuries, Raramuri men and women, as the tradition dictates, compete running uninterruptedly during day and night, on rocky and difficult land, along distances that can be over two hundred kilometers long. This paper outlines the diverse traits of a unique race, and then analyses the principal functions that it accomplishes as cultural event.