VICTOR — As the gun went off, 71 donkeys jolted forward with their ears perked up to the sky and sprinted down the old mining town’s main drag. I tightly gripped the blue rope attached to my saddle-wearing race partner, a brown burro named Indi, and we headed toward the hills.
As I ran 7.3 miles across steep single-track trails and up 1,100 feet of elevation with a fast donkey setting the pace, I learned a lot about myself and the lengths I’ll go to satisfy my curiosity. (Terrifying but cool is how I’d best describe it).
But also, about the incredible teamwork that must happen between a racer and their donkey during one of Colorado’s most unique sports. Race prerequisites include a high level of fitness, an adventurous spirit and a bit of skilled persuasion — you can’t make a burro do anything it doesn’t want to do.
Indi, a burro that was captured in Nevada during a Bureau of Land Management roundup and is now living on a farm east of Colorado Springs, pulled me to the finish line just before the two-hour mark. We came in 32nd place, but as I crossed the line, I felt like I’d also unlocked a new level of Colorado.
Pack burro racing was named the state’s official summer heritage sport in 2012, but dates back to 1949, when the first official race was organized between Leadville and Fairplay. Per race rules, each burro must carry a pickax, a shovel and a gold pan to honor the days when burros carried equipment to and from the mines. Since the burros were carrying a full load, the miners had to walk, which is why there’s no riding in pack burro races.
Legend has it that two miners found gold in the same spot and raced each other back to town to be the first to stake a claim. Now there are about a dozen races around Colorado, uniting mountain towns and attracting crowds eager to watch the unique celebration of the state’s mining boom, according to the Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation.
My pack burro journey started in April with a Facebook post that I found in a Colorado Springs running group, asking for help running donkeys on a farm in Calhan, just past the Paint Mines Interpretive Park.
No prior donkey experience required.
Training for this race looked a bit different than my previous ones. Each visit to Judy Fithian’s farm, where she trains and cares for 16 burros, starts with farm chores, like shoveling manure or moving hay. To get our burros ready to run, we clean their hooves and brush their summer coats.
Racers can rent a donkey and meet them for the first time on race day (and a lot of runners do just that). But to help build a bond with my future teammate and learn more about burro behavior, I made sure to get a couple practice runs in.
Burros can humble even the fastest runners. I quickly learned that as much teamwork is required between the racer and burro, there’s also strategy between each human runner.
Most burros, who are very social animals, love to run with other burros. To keep the momentum going on the Victor course, Indi and I ran near Princess, Pockets, and a fuzzy miniature burro named Bruno.
Burros are smart and also remarkably aware of their surroundings. Unlike horses who will flee when scared, burros will come to a halt. On our training runs, a barking sheepdog, a group of calves in a nearby pasture or thunder in the distance often had our burros slowing down and swiveling their ears.
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LEADVILLE — At the sound of gunfire, the burros take off in a sprint, so fast that the trail runners gripping their lead ropes are at risk of getting dragged down the pavement of historic Harrison Avenue. Within the first block, with a crowd of several hundred lining the street to watch this spectacle, a…
Read moreThe key is to not let them stop and eat grass at risk of never moving again.
All runners must keep their burros under control. If you have to let go, it’s best to yell, “Loose donkey!” to alert others on the course, before reuniting with your donkey and returning to the spot where you two separated. Any racer mistreating their animal may be disqualified.
Pack burro racing is also an extreme test of patience.
I got the best lesson from Patience herself, one of the many burros in Calhan who I was originally paired up with for the Victor race. After two training “runs” where she refused to go faster than a leisurely walk, despite exhausting all of my tactics to get her moving, I gave in and switched partners.
For all the training, there’s nothing that can quite prepare you for the unpredictability of race day.
That’s when we learned along Victor Avenue that Princess, who my boyfriend raced with, has a severe fear of manholes and the double-yellow lines. There’s a slim margin that you’ll win by tugging a reluctant burro by its lead, so it’s best to acknowledge their fears and help them navigate around them.
You can find a list of pack burro races organized by the Western Burro Pack Ass-ociation on its website. The races are in all parts of the state, from Leadville to Naturita. Courses range from three to 29 miles.
If you ever get the chance to run in a pack burro race, my advice would be, do it! Have fun!
And most importantly, hold on tight.