Brief by Central Staff
Pack-Burro Racing – May 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Burro Races start on May 26
So far as we know, Colorado does not have an official state sport, even though it has an official dance, fossil and gemstone. But if our state did have an official sport, it should be pack-burro racing, since it’s the only sport indigenous to Colorado. It began in Leadville in 1949 with a race over Mosquito Pass to Fairplay, and it’s been around ever since.
This year’s race season begins on May 26 in Georgetown, starting at 10 a.m. with eight miles to Empire and back. Then the circuit moves to Teller County with the Donkey Derby Days celebration — an amateur race of about three miles on June 23, and a pro race of 10 miles, more or less, from Victor to Cripple Creek on June 24.
A six-mile race in Idaho Springs on July 22 completes the preliminaries before the big three Triple Crown races: Fairplay “World Championship,” 29 miles to the top of Mosquito Pass and back, on July 29; Leadville “Boom Days,” 22 miles to Mosquito Pass summit and back, on Aug. 5; Buena Vista “Gold Rush Days,” 12 miles on Aug. 12.
The Triple Crown is awarded if the same runner and burro win all three Triple Crown races, and there are divisions for both men and women.
