{"id":38934,"date":"2022-08-12T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T22:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/its-like-riding-an-escalator-burro-racing-is-having-a-moment-in-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:47:14","slug":"its-like-riding-an-escalator-burro-racing-is-having-a-moment-in-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/its-like-riding-an-escalator-burro-racing-is-having-a-moment-in-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s like riding an escalator\u2019: Burro racing is having a moment in Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Local
Local racer Marvin Sandoval urges Buttercup to loop around the Mosquito Pass sign during the Leadville Burro Race on Sunday, Aug. 7. Sandoval adopted Buttercup for his daughter, but ended up using her as his main racing burro. \u201cI just saw that she had that internal drive to want to be in the front,\u201d Sandoval said, (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

LEADVILLE \u2013 At the sound of gunfire, the burros take off in a sprint, so fast that the trailrunners gripping their lead ropes are at risk of getting dragged down the pavement of historic Harrison Avenue.<\/p>\n

Within the first block, with a crowd of several hundred lining the street to watch this spectacle, a donkey is already loose. Its runner manages to catch up and grab the burro\u2019s rope, then trots it back to the spot where the two became detached. To keep going without retracing those steps would have meant disqualification.<\/p>\n

Which, in burro racing, happens all the time.<\/p>\n

This is the burros\u2019 race, so either keep up, get dragged or let go.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour job is to get out of town with everyone else \u2013 lungs popping out of your chest, whatever it takes, get in the herd,\u201d said Brad Wann, who trailered 15 donkeys to last Sunday\u2019s Boom Days Pack Burro Race in Leadville from his Larkspur sanctuary, ReDonkulous Ranch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are technically running with their herd today, so this is a natural process for them. But if you hold them back, and they don\u2019t stay with the herd, you might want to pack a lunch because it\u2019s gonna be a long day. And you may not even finish the race because you may have broken that animal\u2019s spirit to stay at their natural pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the ridiculous start, where those who put in hours of training and showed up to win are lined up alongside first-timers already looking forward to telling this wild story over beers, the racers split off into three major groups. The runners. The joggers. And the walkers.<\/p>\n

For the next two to six hours. Starting at 10,150 feet and climbing to above 13,000 for those in the 22-mile long course.<\/p>\n

\"Tracy
Tracy Loughlin, of Salida, runs down a jeep road with Mary Margaret during the Leadville Burro Race on Sunday. The long course is 22 miles long with a 3,977-foot elevation gain, the highest point at 13,186 feet above sea level. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Colorado\u2019s Triple Crown<\/div>\n

The sport of burro racing isn\u2019t likely to ever go mainstream in Colorado, but seriously, there are plenty of diehards on the donkey circuit. And it\u2019s hooking more racers each year. Runners in Leadville included a software engineer\/marathoner who flies up from Dallas, a Douglas County woman who recently bought three burros and moved from her suburban house to one with a barn, and an Evergreen runner whose friend gifted her the race entry to celebrate her 30th birthday.<\/p>\n

\n

Dictionary<\/h4>\n

Burro<\/strong>: The Spanish word for donkey. Donkeys and burros are the same species. Colloquially, people often refer to small donkeys as burros, and animals living in the wild are typically called burros.<\/p>\n

Donkey<\/strong>: The English word for burro. See previous.<\/p>\n

Mule<\/strong>: A hybrid of a horse and a donkey, so definitely NOT a burro. Mules are the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse and are usually sterile. Not allowed in burro races.<\/p>\n

Ass<\/strong>: A male donkey. Also, an annoying, clueless person. Also, Jackass.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The burro race, after getting canceled in 2020 and then scaled down last year because of COVID, had more participants than ever this summer with 103.<\/p>\n

Tracy Loughlin, a marathoner and ultra runner from Salida who raced with a burro for the first time 11 years ago and never went back to running without one, is going for Colorado\u2019s Triple Crown. That\u2019s three races in three different towns, three weekends in a row, with the same donkey, for a total of 64 miles.<\/p>\n

Loughlin, 44, was the top female finisher first in Fairplay at the end of July, then in Leadville the first weekend in August, coming across the finish line in 4 hours, 15 minutes. Next up is Buena Vista this weekend. Her burro, a gray beauty taller than most named Mary Margaret, carried Loughlin\u2019s light-purple jug of Pedialyte in her sawbuck saddle.<\/p>\n

Burros \u2013 the same species as a donkey but in Spanish \u2013 can travel 60 miles without water, second only to camels.<\/p>\n

Loughlin ran behind Mary Margaret, lined up with her tail and holding onto the rope attached to the donkey\u2019s halter. She guided her along the route that went to the top of Mosquito Pass and back down into downtown Leadville. On the uphill, Mary Margaret pulled Loughlin along. And on the downhill, Loughlin\u2019s goal was to keep up with the burro at a pace of 7:30 minutes per mile.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s faster than my ability to run, for sure,\u201d Loughlin said before the race, as a jittery Mary Margaret sidestepped around the trailer where she was tied up.<\/p>\n

\"Dewane
Dewane Mosher, of Alamosa, rehydrates with Bunny in tow in the long course. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After her first race with a burro, Loughlin was addicted. It felt so mentally different than running on her own that she hasn\u2019t raced without a donkey in a decade, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about you,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t think about myself in the race. I am 100% focused on her and what she\u2019s feeling, what her ears are doing, where she\u2019s going, the decision she\u2019s making about the other donkeys in the field. There\u2019s a dynamic that happens out there. Some donkeys like to run together, some don\u2019t like each other at all. And so it\u2019s more than just running. And that\u2019s what makes it really unpredictable and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loughlin and Mary Margaret train together on the trails around Salida, and are the favorites to win the female division in Buena Vista this weekend \u2013 and if so, the Triple Crown, which comes with a trophy and $500.<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s division, the favorites are Marvin Sandoval and his little brown donkey, Buttercup, who are also positioned for a potential Triple Crown title. It\u2019s a particularly elusive feat in the men\u2019s division. Dressed in bright orange and cheered by the hometown crowd, Sandoval and Buttercup crossed the Leadville finish line in 3 hours, 40 minutes, earning the title of \u201cFirst Ass Up the Pass.\u201d This was despite Sandoval having to tug on Buttercup as they crested Mosquito Pass at 13,150 feet.<\/p>\n

\"Amy
Amy Wanke, of Aurora, walks with Koshare in the short course. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
The matchmakers<\/div>\n

Hardcore racers like Loughlin and Sandoval train hours with their burros, but a few runners meet their hairy racing partner on race day for the first time or, if they\u2019re lucky, once before for a training session. This is all made possible by Wann, his wife, Amber, and their ReDonkulous Ranch.<\/p>\n

Think of them as donkey matchmakers.<\/p>\n

Tell them your 10K time and your shirt size (to estimate girth), and they pick the burro that\u2019s the right fit. The pack animals, some of which come from the wild and were captured by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on the parched prairies of the West, range in size from about 300 pounds to about 500, though \u201cmammoth\u201d donkeys are larger than minis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to put a small person with a big donkey,\u201d said Brad Wann, a burly guy with a bushy, gray beard who helped about a dozen people and their donkeys get ready to race. \u201cWe\u2019re looking to make sure we\u2019re not overwhelming a runner, and we\u2019re not under-whelming a donkey. If the match is not right, the donkey owns the race and they\u2019re going to get loose. And that\u2019s chaotic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wanns ask people who are renting a burro for race day, which runs about $170, to come to a training session ahead of time. \u201cYou don\u2019t want a blind date,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Runners
Runners Lisa Kamar, right, and Mari Lyford, both from New Mexico, hang with their racing companions, Marshmellow and Rufus. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Russ
Russ Rizzo, of Arvada, catches his breath with Miles after they crossed the finish line together along historic Harrison Avenue. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Nikki Wadiwalla, from Evergreen, was on a blind date. Wadiwalla, whose friend paid for her $65 burro race entry for her 30th birthday gift, wore a Hawaiian shirt that matched her little burro\u2019s pink halter. Thankfully, the birthday gift also came with a bottle of wine. And the registration was for the short course \u2013 15 miles instead of 22.<\/p>\n

Wadiwalla did one training run with a donkey that ate grass the whole time. Race day in Leadville was her first time meeting Tucker, a gray burro with a brown stripe on its back. They both seemed a bit uneasy.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately they gave me a warning that he\u2019s a nervous runner and he has nervous diarrhea,\u201d said Wadiwalla, wearing two long braids and pink sunglasses. \u201cSo that\u2019s something to watch out for. And another racer told me he kicked her five times when they did a race in California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wadiwalla was trying to remember all the advice she received during her one training session, including to stay on the burro\u2019s left side to try not to get kicked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the idea is they help pull you up the hill and then you stay in front of them on the downhill or they\u2019ll run you over,\u201d she said. \u201cSo hopefully I\u2019m behind or next to him on the uphill and in front of him on the downhill. Fingers crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trail runner, who keeps a 9-minute-per-mile pace when she\u2019s not running with a donkey, was looking forward to the after. After finishing in 3 hours, 30 minutes \u2013 33rd out of 80 racers in the short course \u2013 Wadiwalla\u2019s plans were to brush Tucker and \u201cthen go have some beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michelle Sroda, racing last weekend with a tiny burro named Esther, first saw a burro race about five years ago. \u201cI remember watching the start and thinking, \u2018That is the most terrifying yet cool thing I\u2019ve ever seen. I need to figure out how to try that, just once.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kirt
Kirt Courkamp, of Arvada, assists Black Jack toward Mosquito Pass during the long course. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Now she has three of her own burros \u2013 Lolita, Rico Suave and Macho Man \u2013 two of which were captured in a federal wild horse and burro roundup in California. Sroda and her husband moved out of their home in Highlands Ranch so they could live on five acres near Parker, where the burros have a barn. The humans are living in an RV while the house goes through a remodel. \u201cWe joke that the donkeys have it better than we do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A highlight for Sroda was finishing the long course in Leadville last year with two of her best burro-racing friends. This year, she did the \u201cshort\u201d course, in 4 hours, 49 minutes. The gang of women have been disqualified multiple times, always because their donkey got away and they couldn\u2019t force it to return to the spot where they dropped the lead rope. Donkeys also want to stay with their friends.<\/p>\n

Trail running, Sroda\u2019s old sport, was never this fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting a little burned out on running, especially by myself,\u201d Sroda said. \u201cAnd now there\u2019s so many other things to think about when I\u2019m out there that my brain stays busy. When you\u2019re in sync with the animal and if it\u2019s one that you\u2019ve trained with a lot, and you start to figure each other out, there\u2019s nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Russ
Russ Rizzo, of Arvada, pats Miles moments after crossing the finish line. \u201cYou\u2019re not thinking about your problems back at home. You\u2019re not thinking about your (personal record). You\u2019re not thinking about what you\u2019re wearing,\u201d Rizzo said about racing. \u201cI think that\u2019s really good, really healthy for you too when you\u2019re getting out in nature. It\u2019s a partnership (with Miles).\u201d Miles was adopted by The Community Farm in Arvada from a BLM wild burro roundup. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Donkey regulations<\/div>\n

Burros can travel 60 miles in a day. The sturdy pack animals were once used by miners, including during the silver rush that established Leadville as a town in 1877. The athletes in the burro race, the town likes to say, run alongside their burros \u201cmuch like Colorado\u2019s 19th-century miners did when racing to a claim.\u201d To that end, each burro in the race must carry a pick, shovel and a gold pan in their regulation pack saddle.<\/p>\n

Mules, which are a cross between a horse and a donkey, are not allowed in the burro race. They\u2019re faster, so they would have a natural advantage, for one reason. But the main reason is that they\u2019re a different species \u2013 and whatever you do at a burro race, do not refer to a burro as a mule. These people are proud of their donkeys, their stamina and the differences between them and horses.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir self-preservation is so great,\u201d Brad Wann said. \u201cThey won\u2019t run themselves to death like a horse will. They will shut down. People call them stubborn; they\u2019re just cautious. You can\u2019t make a burro do anything it doesn\u2019t want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spectators at a burro race are watching the animals\u2019 natural behavior, he said. Sure, the runners will try to guide them in a straight line and coach them along, but basically the animals are just following their herd up the hill.<\/p>\n

\"Joe
Joe Polonsky, of Monument, hikes with Jake ahead of other competitors toward Mosquito Pass. (Hugh Carey,\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Once a runner gets in a groove with the burro, Wann said, \u201cit\u2019s like riding an escalator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing is: Don\u2019t get caught alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Bennett, an ultra runner who got medically evacuated from the notorious LeadvilleTrail 100 in 2009, is likely the only burro racer who has won both titles \u201cFirst Ass Up the Pass\u201d and \u201cLast Ass Up the Pass.\u201d His legendary win came after he hopped off a plane from Dallas, grabbed a donkey and crushed the course.<\/p>\n

This time, he was matched with Action Jackson. \u201cBut I just call him A.J., because when I\u2019m running, it takes too much breath,\u201d said Bennett, who before the race was struggling to get A.J. to even cross the road. A.J. is about the size of a horse, which is why he was matched with Bennett, \u201cone of the bigger human racers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at least Bennett\u2019s seventh time running with a burro in Leadville, a race he signed up for when a lottery system prevented him from getting another shot at the Leadville 100. After he was medevaced off the mountain 13 years ago during the grueling, high-elevation race, Bennett wasn\u2019t selected in the lottery the following year. \u201cSo I looked for another race to do and found this one. I have been hooked ever since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMile for mile, it\u2019s more adventure than almost anything else you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

is attracting more runners every year as people compete for First Ass Up the Pass and the donkey Triple Crown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[233,28,445,976],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84178,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38934\/revisions\/84178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38934"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}