Grit, Perseverance and Sandal

James Krisnanda
Aug 27, 2017 · 3 min read

The name is María Lorena Ramírez (22 years old), first winner of ultra marathon called Ultra Trail Cerro Rojo in central Mexico. What struck me the most, she is not branded by nike/under armour gears. She wears sandal. Yeah you read it right, freaking sandal made from recycled tyre rubber. In fact, she ran with a skirt, t-shirt, and sandal.

On 29 April, she defeated hundreds of runner from overseas and gained the first place. After running for seven hours and three mintues, she was awarded with 6,000 pesos, around 300 bucks.

Now, the real question is how on earth a modest young girl came on 1st places in 50 km-ultra marathon just wearing sandal ?

There are several explanation regarding to María Lorena Ramírez or Tarahumara running secrets :

  • They commonly walking long distances for daily activities like shepherding and hunting.
  • They commonly use huaraches or their home-made sandal.
  • Running is a part of their religious-cultural ceremonies and traditional games in their custom.
  • The staple food of Tarahumara made from corn beer mostly, contained high carbohydrates to avoid dehydration when running.

In other words, she becomes so good at running because she does running every day. Grit and perseverances, no fancy gears, no professional method.

I wonder a lot when read María Lorena Ramírez’s stories. What if I got grit and perseverance like she does ? Beside, one of analogy that come to my mind is life is not a sprint event. Life is marathon.

In the real life, winning is just not about the fancy equipment. College-degree does help a lot for seeking decent job, family connection also a ground breaking. But what is most underrated is what each individual have. A grit. A perseverance. A clear willing.

Despite of quarrelling and being green-eyed of what others have. Better prepare our own sandal. Like Maria did. Grit, Perseverance and Sandal.

That is it Folks, in the mean time i will keep writing, and here is oreo.

Source and Image Courtesy:

https://dd2d9j2i66w9u.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/23110321/Ramirez-Shoes.jpg

https://ep01.epimg.net/verne/imagenes/2017/06/07/album/1496850982_706252_1496862806_album_normal.jpg

http://us.hola.com/imagenes//actualidad/201706098561/lorena-ramirez-raramuri-fotos-tarahumara-corredora/0-54-289/t-t.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-normal&downsize=780px:*&output-format=progressive-jpeg

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40006985

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