Through connection to their land, Tarahumara runners are among Mexico’s most beloved champions

CHIHUAHUA, México (AP) — Miguel Lara was born to run. It’s in his blood, his people’s history and tied to the land he calls “home.”

“That’s what we do,” said the 34-year-old ultramarathoner near his cabin in Porochi, an Indigenous community in the remote Tarahumara mountains of northern Mexico.

“Tarahumara means ‘the light-footed,’” Lara said. “Long before marathons existed, the Tarahumara people were already running.”

Deep in the mountain range, along the Mexican states of Chihuahua...