By Hal Walter
Though I run nearly every day, I’ve often joked that I rarely write about running because, hey, how much can really be said about putting one foot in front of the other? So it’s a tad ironic the most captivating book I’ve read in the past year is Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.
When I try to tell people about this nonfiction story, which has a subtitle so long that I’ve saved it for the second paragraph – A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen – I have difficulty summing up what it’s actually about. Yeah, sure, it’s about running, but it’s also about so much more.
There’s a reason the book has been on the New York Times Best-Seller list for months – it’s because it’s a great read. But it’s even more interesting to me from the standpoint that much of the story is built around Leadville, the Leadville Trail 100 ultramarathon, and some Central Colorado characters that I actually know or am familiar with, including LT 100 founder Ken Chlouber, former Adams State coach Joe Vigil, and a handful of others, even doctors and nurses who worked in the Leadville hospital when I was editor of the Herald-Democrat back in 1989.
The book opens with the author’s search for the almost mythical Caballo Blanco, aka Micah True, who lives much of his time among the Tarahumara, or Raramuri, people in the Copper Canyon country of Mexico. And the rest of the book’s story is interwoven with the intriguing tale of Caballo, who lives part of his time in a rock hut in Mexico’s Copper Canyon, but can be easily found on facebook, of all places, where’s he’s gained quite a following since the book.
That’s how my friend (not a facebook “friend,” but a real friend) Roger Pedretti found Caballo. Roger is the brother of Rob Pedretti, who died in 2004 and was eulogized in my Colorado Central column in March of that year. The story is also included in my new book Wild Burro Tales. Roger took up pack-burro racing as a tribute to Rob following his death, and now travels from Wisconsin each summer with Rob’s burro Samaritan to run in the burro races.
Roger somehow got through Caballo’s 2,100-person facebook friend list and got him interested in entering the Leadville International Pack-Burro Race. Caballo was game, but as Boom Days neared Roger contacted me because Caballo needed a good trained burro. I just happened to have one named Spike, a black gelding who’s won that race a couple times.
So, unlike McDougall, I had to go on no epic search to meet the elusive Caballo. All I had to do was drive an hour to the Bill and Julie Canterbury Ranch near Howard, and I already knew how to get there. Caballo appeared there more than a week prior to Boom Days ready to try his hand at pack-burro racing. This was Caballo’s first introduction to the sport, though he’s seen plenty of burros in Copper Canyon, and hires them out to pack gear on tours that he guides there.
Caballo obviously is no stranger to long-distance running – that’s mostly what he does, and he’s competed in countless ultramarathons, including the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, which he organizes.
So we met at Canterbury’s for a training run, up the Howard Creek road. Basically we just ran uphill about three miles and then back to the ranch. Caballo did well keeping Spike moving uphill, but on the way back down Spike managed to bolt away from him a couple times.
After the run I asked Caballo how he’s coping with the newfound fame brought about by Born to Run. He said that he has mixed emotions about it, and that he’s “trying to keep it real” by channeling the energy into helping the Raramuri people sustain their culture.
Last year the race he organizes brought in 100,000 pounds of corn for the Tarahumara, and $14,000 in prizes. In fact every Raramuri who finishes his race is awarded 500 pounds of corn. But Caballo wants to do more. He’s traveling this country doing speaking engagements in hopes of raising more awareness about the Tarahumara. And he’s contemplating a book of his own.
Roger and Caballo put in a couple more training runs with Spike and Samaritan prior to the race, and all reports indicated the black burro was running well for the white horse.
And so it was a surprise on race day when Spike would not go for him at all. It was a tremendous disappointment for both Caballo and myself. They dropped out of the race just a couple miles up 5th Street. Caballo was a good sport about it, and stayed after the race for the banquet and the good-natured ribbing that went along with it. He even offered that he’d like to give it another shot, maybe next year.
The White Horse hung out around Leadville for a couple more weeks. He ran up Hope Pass a few times, and up Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. He was considering a run at the Leadville Trail 100, but then, as he describes it, “the circus began.” The ranks of entrants for the ultramarathon swelled to more than 800, ironically in part due to the popularity of Born to Run. There was rumor of a film crew shooting footage for a movie based on the book. And 1,500 cyclists turned out for the mountain bike race.
It was more than Micah could take.
A few days before the race Caballo simply packed up and trotted away. The White Horse was headed toward his barn deep in the heart of la Sierra Madré.
I hope he finds his way back next year. Burro Negro will be waiting.
Hal Walter writes and edits from the Wet Mountains. You can keep up with him regularly at his blog: www.hardscrabbletimes.com
