One of the overarching themes of Born to Run is Tarahumara culture and traditions. In Chapter 1, McDougall describes the Tarahumara as a “near-mythical tribe of ‘Stone Age’ superathletes” (4). He also argues that the Tarahumara “may be the healthiest and most serene people on earth, and the greatest runners of all time” (4). While their remarkable long distance running ability might be what the Tarahumara are most known for, their peaceful, shy, and mysterious nature are aspects imbedded in their culture. As opposed to unique traditions, culture refers to the shared characteristics of a group. The serenity, or peacefulness, McDougall refers to is such a characteristic, as is their timidity and reclusiveness.

Those characteristics of the Tarahumara are easily explainable, however. McDougall argues that “the last time the Tarahumara had been open to the outside world, the outside world put them in chains and mounted their severed heads on nine-foot poles” (29). He is referring to the invasion of Spanish silver hunters in the 17th century, during which the Spanish established silver mines in Tarahumara territory and forced them into slave labor (29). Similarly, when Wild West bounty hunters in the 19th century were offered money for Apache scalps, the hunters slaughtered Tarahumara and “cashed in on their look-alike hair” (29).