With a high-carbohydrate, low-fat vegetarian diet, the svelte Tarahumara are perfectly adapted for running. Early American explorers noted their remarkable endurance in carrying supplies and mail, and Tarahumara athletes have twice raced in Olympic marathons (Amsterdam, 1928, and Mexico City, 1968), although culture shock left them far back.

But with increased road building and logging in the region, many younger Tarahumara have abandoned their running legacy, opting instead to hitch rides on passing trucks. Over the last decade, running challenges have dwindled from an intense competition between 40 villages to occasional races among only a few. Willing Participants

Wary of being perceived as a huckster but desperate to preserve the tribe's traditions, Fisher says he has brought the Tarahumara to Leadville the past three years for one reason only: because they wanted to come.

"People are always trying to sell them on something," Fisher said, "but almost nobody has gone onto Indian land and looked at what the Indians were interested in. These people call themselves the Raramuri, the 'foot racers.' I could work to build a hospital or a school, but the people I work with don't want those things."

More interested in Tarahumara culture than in ultrarunning, Fisher's first foray into coaching proved disastrous. In their first Leadville 100 in 1992, not one Indian finished. Accustomed to running in their huarache sandals homemade from old tires and leather, the runners' feet understandably swelled in the Converse Chuck Taylor high-top sneakers Fisher had supplied them. And like the torches they carry at night at home, they held the flashlights provided for the Leadville race facing skyward.

But their ultimate undoing may have been their appreciation of the world around them. Thirty miles into the race, Chlouber came across the Tarahumara sitting at the edge of the trail admiring the view.

"I was trotting along and I saw two of them sitting on their haunches looking at the valley," he said. "I thought to myself, 'They're a lot smarter than I am.' " How to Win