The World’s Best Ultra-Athletes Grow Their Own Energy Drinks

Pinole – The Preferred Drink of the Tarahumara

If you’ve been following along with Marjory’s adventure to visit the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico, you’ve probably already heard about pinole. This is an ancient drink made of ground corn that originated with the Aztecs and spread throughout Central and South America.

The Tarahumara use this drink as an energy drink – it fuels their epic long runs across the jagged terrain of the Copper Canyon. The drink also makes you feel full, even if you haven’t eaten, which is convenient when you’re running for 12 hours straight without stopping to eat.

Marjory brought this video back from her trip to Mexico, and you can see a 71 year old man demonstrating rarájipari, the traditional Tarahumara game of kicking a rock ball down a trail. One week before this was filmed, this man completed a 72 kilometer race, overnight. Check it out:

Traveling to Meet the Tarahumara

Marjory kept a journal of her entire trip to Mexico and she’s sharing the story here. You can see lots of beautiful photographs, and read all about the Tarahumara way of life, including how they grow their own food and medicine, in her story Extreme Agri-Tourism: Off the Grid with the Tarahumara Indians.

There will be more information about pinole during this year’s Home Grown Food Summit. The summit will be hosted online next month from March 7th to March 13th. If you receive the [Grow] Network’s free email newsletter, then you’re already registered for this free event!