by Hal Walter
Adding to the excitement of the upcoming pack-burro racing season was a visit by New York documentary filmmaker Trevor Velin and producer Meghan McGinley.
Trevor had contacted me about his idea to make a documentary film on Colorado’s only indigenous sport. Apparently he had read about pack-burro racing in a magazine and decided to check it out on his travels last year. I actually spoke to him following one of the races in 2008 but I was apparently in a hypoxic haze and barely remember the conversation. At any rate, Trevor decided the reality of a 29-mile race in which people run with burros up and down a rocky 13,187-foot pass was interesting and worthy of documenting on film.
It turns out that Trevor and Meghan have quite some experience in the business of reality TV. He films “The Real Housewives of New York City,” “Shalom in the Home,” “Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal,” and “Paranormal State.” She is a casting producer and location manager for shows like “Nanny 911” and “Wife Swap.” Both work on “Z Rock” for the Independent Film Channel.
I’ve seen many journalists take an interest in pack-burro racing over the years, but Trevor was the first videographer to attempt to get into the minds of participants by exploring their personal and professional lives. He asked if it would be okay to follow me around for a few days.
We live 15 miles from Westcliffe, so to make it easier I arranged for them to stay in the basement apartment of one of the vacation houses that I caretake. I offered to provide some meals while they were here since dining in town can be sketchy.
I had been warned beforehand that Trevor has an unhealthy eating habit called vegetarianism, but I’ve known quite a few people with this condition and have helped some of them recover. The first night we were invited to dinner with neighbors Pete and Nancy Hedberg where grilled burgers of grass-fed beef were on the menu, and I brought along my Rootin’ Tootin’ Summer Salad (recipe follows) to accompany the burgers.
It was clear that Meghan did not suffer the nutritional challenges of Trevor, and was very excited about the prospect of a natural-beef burger. At some point I threw out the idea of a TV show called “A Jackass in the Kitchen.” It’s actually a title I had thought up some while ago — it could either be a cookbook or a TV show or both — just another in a long list of good ideas I never do anything about. But it’s true that my interest in nutrition and cooking came about through an interest in improving my health and fitness to give me an edge in burro racing.
A brief initial filming session of my family going for an evening walk gave the pair an introductory glimpse of our life here and helped me get over the jitters of being on camera. Trevor left the camera behind when we went over to the Hedbergs.
Over the course of the next two days I was filmed going over projects with my client Phil Maffetone, whose books I edit, doing chores and taking care of horses over at the ranch I manage, checking on cattle, training burros, doing chores around here, and taking my son Harrison on a therapeutic recreational burro ride.
Curiously, I don’t think Trevor ever filmed me in the kitchen, but we ate well those few days. I remember a crustless quiche, a wheat-free apple pie, steamed broccoli with a white cheese sauce. And then there were the natural-pork brats I had stowed in the fridge, mention of which made Trevor just as nervous as I was about one part of the video shoot.
I had been told the final bit of filming was to be a sit-down interview in which they would ask me some questions. So the last afternoon they were here they set up lawnchairs out behind the house, taped a mic inside my shirt, and, with upper Boneyard Park in the background, Trevor grilled me about pack-burro racing and my life. I just knew that somewhere along the line I would be asked the most obvious question of all.
There were questions about how I got started in pack-burro racing, what keeps me in it; they asked about parallels between raising a son with autism and training burros, about the history of the sport, about why I find burros such intriguing animals … and, of course, there was the question every pack-burro racer has been asked, and which no pack-burro racer I’ve known has ever nailed. That question is: “Why do you do this?”
I knew it was coming and I had actually thought about it the entire time Trevor and Meghan were here. I did not want to give a trite response. Clearly the answer was complex. This year will be my 30th consecutive Leadville Pack-Burro Race and there must be a reason I keep showing up at the starting line.
And then it dawned on me that there was no one “why.” Sure, I love the sport, but there is no way for someone to convey all the experiences and emotions I have felt in more than 100 races over three decades. What I finally came to realize is there have been many “whys,” and “why” has changed at different stages of my life. “Why” in 1980 was quite different than “why” in 1998 or “why” in 2009. And that’s why I’m still in it.
It was a little dose of reality TV for myself. We’ll see how it all turns out. At this point Trevor and Meghan are assembling a crew to film all three Triple Crown races in Central Colorado this summer. I doubt I’ll be cast for a cooking show any time in the near future, but Trevor did eat a grilled bratwurst his last night here.
Hal Walter writes and edits from the Wet Mountains. You can keep up with him regularly at his blog: www.hardscrabbletimes.wordpress.comRootin’ Tootin’ Summer Salad
This simple salad doesn’t require washing lettuce! And it’s packed with health-enhancing phytonutrients. You’ll need:
3 medium carrots
1 green or other tart apple
1 big lime
2 tablespoons fresh ginger root
1 medium-small beet, peeled
Sea salt
I use a regular old grater for this and add the ingredients to a salad bowl in order. Grate the carrots first using the coarse holes. Then core and grate the apple coarsely.
Using the fine grate, zest all the peel off the lime and add to the salad. Then cut the lime in half and squeeze all the juice over the grated apple (this will help keep the apple from turning brown).
Grate the ginger fine, then grate the beet coarsely.
Toss, season with sea salt and set aside for a few minutes. After the salad rests the lime and vegetable juices will accumulate on the bottom of the bowl, so stir it up again before serving.
