A new 17.5 mile distance has been added. The 2020 event was a big success and 2021 will be even better.
START TIME IS 7AM
IT IS LIMITED TO 200 ENTRIES
Run with the Burros
Supported by the Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation!
find us on Ultrasignup!
… Burros were brought to the Indian Wells Valley as beasts of burden and faithful companions by early prospectors. Descended from Mediterranean stock brought from Mexico, these sturdy animals are well suited to the climate and terrain. They worked hard hauling daily water and supplies to mining camps, and even worked underground. After the mining booms and frenzy died, burros were out of a job. Obsolete, many were turned loose to roam the desert.
Old timers will tell stories of burros competing with cattle in the canyons of this race course. They also wandered onto the runways at the local Navy base. Eventually, they were all rounded up and removed by the BLM except in mountains to the east. The cattle were gone by the early 2000’s, but the legacy remains.
Join us where the Sierra Nevada meets the Mojave Desert as the mining and burro heritage is brought back and honored by “Running with the Burros”….
The Concept
We invite individual runners and runners with burros to compete on a challenging course in the canyons of the southern Sierra Nevada.
Let’s get one thing straight right away. Burro is the Spanish word for donkey, which is the same as an ass. All three words have identical meaning. The jokes write themselves, but ass is a completely proper word not to be avoided.
Burro races are a long tradition in the mining community. Locally, Randsburg, Lone Pine, Death Valley, and Beatty have had burro races as far back as 1897. There were even 2.5 day 42 mile races from Apple Valley to Big Bear. Pack burro racing in the current format has been a tradition since 1949 where runners on foot race long distances with a pack burro as a team (one burro with each runner), guiding them with only a halter, lead rope, voice, and their bond as a team.
Not everyone can own or borrow burro, so this run allows anyone to compete. Run, hike, crawl, with or without a burro. This event offers an introductory experience and we hope it is the first of many new pack burro races in California.