RIFLE RANGE BOY

Born To Run  Christopher McDougall (2009) ( A hidden tribe, super athletes and the greatest race the world has never seen ) Just finished reading a book (a non-fiction) about an elusive Indian tribe, a great foot race and a bunch of mad runners who do ultra marathons. I think that this is a book that any serious runner should read it to get a better perspective on running and also on life itself! The book starts with the author trying to track down a fabled and elusive gringo, Caballo Blanco, who had left his normal life in the US to live amongst a equally timidly elusive Tarahumara Indians in an isolated dry wasteland of canyons and desert-like terrain in Mexico in their simple way of life. The Tarahumaras are said to have been running all their life, first from the Spanish invaders and now from the drug dealers. These Indians have tremendous ability to run extremely long distances with minimal preparations and donning simple footwear - a piece of rubber sole draped by...

The basic rule of running is to respect the distance. Whatever it is a long track, a short trail or a marathon, the distance must be be respected. This, I learnt from the Salomon trail held on the grounds of the agricultural university at the area which houses the the dairy cows. This time around, what used the playing field of aspiring veterinary students was our running ground. Tuned to most appropriate tunes of the 'Best of Eagles' country rock tune befitting the environment, to the smell of decaying cow manure and early morning dew, running in the muddy and sometimes slippery, sometimes uneven ground of latterite soil, we struggled through the trail of country road to the amusement to the masticating bullls and cows! Probably, they must be amused at our follies at running fast but wary to the deceiving slippery wet trail. The trail initially took us through a puddle of mud as seen above. Some how, most runners managed to keep their feet dry by ...