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 donkey is already loose. Its runner manages to catch up and grab the burro鈥檚 rope, then trots it back to the spot where the two became detached. To keep going without retracing those steps would have meant disqualification.
Which, in burro racing, happens all the time.
This is the burros鈥� race, so either keep up, get dragged or let go.
鈥淵our job is to get out of town with everyone else 鈥� lungs popping out of your chest, whatever it takes, get in the herd,鈥� said Brad Wann, who trailered 15 donkeys to the recent Boom Days Pack Burro Race in Leadville from his Larkspur sanctuary, ReDonkulous Ranch.
鈥淭hey are technically running with their herd today, so this is a natural process for them. But if you hold them back, and they don鈥檛 stay with the herd, you might want to pack a lunch because it鈥檚 gonna be a long day. And you may not even finish the race because you may have broken that animal鈥檚 spirit to stay at their natural pace.鈥�
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.
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.
鈥� Colorado鈥檚 Triple Crown
The sport of burro racing isn鈥檛 likely to ever go mainstream in Colorado, but seriously, there are plenty of diehards on the donkey circuit. And it鈥檚 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.
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.
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鈥檚 Triple Crown. That鈥檚 three races in three different towns, three weekends in a row, with the same donkey, for a total of 64 miles.
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鈥檚 light-purple jug of Pedialyte in her sawbuck saddle.
Burros 鈥� the same species as a donkey but in Spanish 鈥� can travel 60 miles without water, second only to camels.
Loughlin ran behind Mary Margaret, lined up with her tail and holding onto the rope attached to the donkey鈥檚 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鈥檚 goal was to keep up with the burro at a pace of 7:30 minutes per mile.
鈥淪he鈥檚 faster than my ability to run, for sure,鈥� Loughlin said before the race, as a jittery Mary Margaret sidestepped around the trailer where she was tied up.
After her first race with a burro, Loughlin was addicted. It felt so mentally different than running on her own that she hasn鈥檛 raced without a donkey in a decade, she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about you,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think about myself in the race. I am 100% focused on her and what she鈥檚 feeling, what her ears are doing, where she鈥檚 going, the decision she鈥檚 making about the other donkeys in the field. There鈥檚 a dynamic that happens out there. Some donkeys like to run together, some don鈥檛 like each other at all. And so it鈥檚 more than just running. And that鈥檚 what makes it really unpredictable and exciting.鈥�
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 鈥� and if so, the Triple Crown, which comes with a trophy and $500.
In the men鈥檚 division, the favorites are Marvin Sandoval and his little brown donkey, Buttercup, who are also positioned for a potential Triple Crown title. It鈥檚 a particularly elusive feat in the men鈥檚 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 鈥淔irst Ass Up the Pass.鈥� This was despite Sandoval having to tug on Buttercup as they crested Mosquito Pass at 13,150 feet.
鈥� The matchmakers
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鈥檙e lucky, once before for a training session. This is all made possible by Wann, his wife, Amber, and their ReDonkulous Ranch.
Think of them as donkey matchmakers.
Tell them your 10K time and your shirt size (to estimate girth), and they pick the burro that鈥檚 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 鈥渕ammoth鈥� donkeys are larger than minis.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to put a small person with a big donkey,鈥� said Brad Wann, a burly guy with a bushy, gray beard who helped about a dozen people and their donkeys get ready to race. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to make sure we鈥檙e not overwhelming a runner, and we鈥檙e not under-whelming a donkey. If the match is not right, the donkey owns the race and they鈥檙e going to get loose. And that鈥檚 chaotic.鈥�
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. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want a blind date,鈥� he said.
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鈥檚 pink halter. Thankfully, the birthday gift also came with a bottle of wine. And the registration was for the short course 鈥� 15 miles instead of 22.
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.
鈥淚mmediately they gave me a warning that he鈥檚 a nervous runner and he has nervous diarrhea,鈥� said Wadiwalla, wearing two long braids and pink sunglasses. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 something to watch out for. And another racer told me he kicked her five times when they did a race in California.鈥�
Wadiwalla was trying to remember all the advice she received during her one training session, including to stay on the burro鈥檚 left side to try not to get kicked.
鈥淚 think the idea is they help pull you up the hill and then you stay in front of them on the downhill or they鈥檒l run you over,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o hopefully I鈥檓 behind or next to him on the uphill and in front of him on the downhill. Fingers crossed.鈥�
The trail runner, who keeps a 9-minute-per-mile pace when she鈥檚 not running with a donkey, was looking forward to the after. After finishing in 3 hours, 30 minutes 鈥� 33rd out of 80 racers in the short course 鈥� Wadiwalla鈥檚 plans were to brush Tucker and 鈥渢hen go have some beer.鈥�
Michelle Sroda, racing last weekend with a tiny burro named Esther, first saw a burro race about five years ago. 鈥淚 remember watching the start and thinking, 鈥楾hat is the most terrifying yet cool thing I鈥檝e ever seen. I need to figure out how to try that, just once.鈥欌��
Now she has three of her own burros 鈥� Lolita, Rico Suave and Macho Man 鈥� 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. 鈥淲e joke that the donkeys have it better than we do,鈥� she said.
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 鈥渟hort鈥� course, in 4 hours, 49 minutes. The gang of women have been disqualified multiple times, always because their donkey got away and they couldn鈥檛 force it to return to the spot where they dropped the lead rope. Donkeys also want to stay with their friends.
Trail running, Sroda鈥檚 old sport, was never this fun.
鈥淚 was getting a little burned out on running, especially by myself,鈥� Sroda said. 鈥淎nd now there鈥檚 so many other things to think about when I鈥檓 out there that my brain stays busy. When you鈥檙e in sync with the animal and if it鈥檚 one that you鈥檝e trained with a lot, and you start to figure each other out, there鈥檚 nothing like it.鈥�
鈥� Donkey regulations
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 鈥渕uch like Colorado鈥檚 19th-century miners did when racing to a claim.鈥� To that end, each burro in the race must carry a pick, shovel and a gold pan in their regulation pack saddle.
Mules, which are a cross between a horse and a donkey, are not allowed in the burro race. They鈥檙e faster, so they would have a natural advantage, for one reason. But the main reason is that they鈥檙e a different species 鈥� 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.
鈥淭heir self-preservation is so great,鈥� Brad Wann said. 鈥淭hey won鈥檛 run themselves to death like a horse will. They will shut down. People call them stubborn; they鈥檙e just cautious. You can鈥檛 make a burro do anything it doesn鈥檛 want to do.鈥�
Spectators at a burro race are watching the animals鈥� 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.
Once a runner gets in a groove with the burro, Wann said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 like riding an escalator.鈥�
鈥淭he main thing is: Don鈥檛 get caught alone.鈥�
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 鈥淔irst Ass Up the Pass鈥� and 鈥淟ast Ass Up the Pass.鈥� His legendary win came after he hopped off a plane from Dallas, grabbed a donkey and crushed the course.
This time, he was matched with Action Jackson. 鈥淏ut I just call him A.J., because when I鈥檓 running, it takes too much breath,鈥� 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, 鈥渙ne of the bigger human racers.鈥�
It was at least Bennett鈥檚 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鈥檛 selected in the lottery the following year. 鈥淪o I looked for another race to do and found this one. I have been hooked ever since,鈥� he said.
鈥淢ile for mile, it鈥檚 more adventure than almost anything else you can do.鈥�