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Ultra-Running A familiar face on the back trails is Micah True - a.k.a. "Caballo Blanco". Micah guides back-country trips on foot and runs the trails in his spare time. Presently he is organizing another cross-canyon run - an ultra-marathon. We have some details on the route since we cover the same trails too but on horseback - four feet being better than two for us! There are two races planned - the first was from Batopilas to Urique and started March 23, 2003. The second event was in reverse - Urique to Batopilas and started on November 21, 2003. The next race is planned for March 6, 2005. This is the 4th footrace across the canyons and mountains. You can register for future runs through Micah's website or write him directly. We can tell you this country is not for the timid so if you are in good shape - buena suerte (good luck)! Micah describes
two separate runs below along with an account of how he became involved in running the canyons For another person's
first-hand account of the race environment, read
Huw Davies' article.
Running La Sierra Madre and Mexico's Copper Canyon By Micah True [Caballo Blanco] My introduction to La Sierra Madre of Mexico was in November of 1994. That was the summer when a team of 7 Tarahumara indians, [most of them from the same village of 400 people], smoked the Leadville 100 mile race. I had been recruited to run with a raramuri[runner], to pace him the last 50 miles of the race. During the course of running all afternoon and night with Martiamo Cervantes [who finished 3rd], We became good friends, a friendship fueled by the shared experience of a 10 3/4 hour run together, ups and downs[both literally and figuratively], and mutual respect. That winter I made an announcement over a Boulder public radio station that I was looking for coats and sweaters to deliver to the Sierra Madre mountain town of Choguita, the town located at 8,700 feet where my raramuri friends lived. The coat drive was a success, giving away 400 quality coats and sweaters to the men, women, and children of Choguita. The gnarly drive to this beautiful mountain valley was such a rough and traumatic experience that I was in no hurry to leave this lovely valley, where I camped and visited with the people for a week, having the opportunity to share some wonderful trail running; also running the 'jeep' road that had taken me 5 hours to negotiate 30 miles in my camper truck, in 5 hours 15 minutes by foot! This run required much less gasoline and stress then had the drive! The winter had passed; I had traveled to Southern Mexico and returned in the spring for a visit, showing up in 'la sierra' just in time to participate in a 75 mile foot race. This was exciting to run with the raramuri on their home turf! The night before the race, all of the raramuri were gathered to eat dinner and I was introduced as being the amigo of often-time winner Martiamo Cervantes. I was greeted warmly as all had heard of this 'loco' gringo called 'Caballo Blanco'. The man called horse [me], grinningly produced a photo of a flying saucer hovering over lake Attitlan in Guatemala. The wide-eyed raramuri were even wider eyed when I announced that the beings in the flying saucer were my "ayudantes"[helpers]. Surely this crazy gringo with the extraterrestrial helpers would be the man to beat! The race was to begin at 7 a.m. That night was a typical night before a race kind of a sleepless night. I was up bright and early eating oatmeal and downing a big cup of some strong espresso.-7 o'clock in the morning came, and the raramuri were engaged in their pre-race, high-tech stretching and warm-up session; this consisted of lying around on rocks or smoking cheap filter-less cigarettes! 9,10, 12 o'clock rolled around and by this time I was exhausted from using up all of my nervous, coffee induced energy. The raramuri on the other hand, were/are the most relaxed people who I have ever seen! The race finally started! I was surprised to see the 20 or so raramuri go out in a sprint, like it were a 5 km race. I, on the other hand[or foot], plodded along, actually eventually catching up to 2 of the 20 raramuri. The race went into the middle of the night/early morning. The winner took 10 hours and 5 minutes to make this mountainous run; the next 5 runners were all within 5 minutes! May the raramuri and all our relations [all of them] continue to run free! The 'space horse' can be found running
the back-trails of cyberspace at www.caballoblanco.com
Webmaster's notes: Stories and pictures got mixed up and overlapped as they were exchanged while preparing this page. Two race reports follow - the 1st race that took place in March, 2003 and the 3rd race that was run in March, 2004. Naturally the photos are from the 2nd race in November, 2003. We'll sort it all out (sometime, maybe mañana)! Meanwhile what the heck - read the stories, check out the Raramuri runners, and look at the maps for the course details. Then look at the times - are you up for this? Results of the First Copper Canyon UltraMarathon (March 23, 2003) This was a beautiful weekend in the deep canyon country of La Sierra Madre. On Saturday they came, walking into the plaza of Urique from ranchos hidden in the protective folds of La Sierra Madre and Batopilas canyon. We all hung out in a really nice hotel, Ëstrella Del Rio¨{Star of the River}, ate from a huge pot of ´pozole´{corn and goat stew}. Even the vegetarian Caballo Blanco partook of this korima {gift}; then had a good nights sleep in the deluxe hotel room. In the morning we ate more pozoli, then the run began. We danced all morning and into the afternoon, with and through our mother mountains; moving to the lovely rhythm of her heartbeat, the heartbeat of freedom. Friends were dancing with us in spirit, as they have been a part of this through positive thought and inspiration. Vive la inspiraccion {inspired action}. In these times of world strife and conflict, may the Tarahumara and all of us continue to run free. Micah
On the Friday morning before the race, the sponsor and race director, Caballo Blanco, did not know what kind of response to expect, he had no expectations. As he left his home in the deep canyon town of Batopilas, walking over La Sierra to the start of the race in the deep canyon town of Urique, he was joined by a Raramuri runner {Nacho}. Upon reaching the town of Cerro Colorado seven miles into the 29 mile journey, he encountered two more Raramuri runners waiting for him. Shortly thereafter another couple of runners fell into line behind him until there were six excellent traditional Raramuri runners following him on the climb out of Batopilas canyon, six miles across the mountains in the oak then pine forests, then the rocky, steep descent into the lovely arroyo ´Los Alisos´, where all camped on the property of the family of Prospero Torrez, who fed us all and gave blankets and a place to camp. This would also be the first key aide station of the race where all would take a bag of burritos and cup of pinole before beginning the 3,000 foot in two mile climb! The next morning, the team of Batopilas canyon Raramuri and their gringo Raramuri friend walked the 8 1/2 miles to the town of Urique. There was a team of 10 Urique canyon Raramuri runners who were signed up to run the race, but upon hearing of the arrival of the traditional Batopilas canyon runners wearing their ´sapetas´{white cotton wrap around skirts}, the Urique runners did not show up, conceding the race to the reknowned traditional Rararamuri runners.
This was the first time that any of the team of Batopilas canyon Raramuri had seen the Urique canyon and the first time that any had traveled on this trail that was to be the race course. The race sponsor acted as their guide, and it was an honor to have done so. While in Urique, the runners were treated with great respect like the champions that they are. The Raramuri took off from the start of the race in the plaza of Urique, like this were a 5 km race! After a couple of hundred meters, the team running in a group, disappeared from sight. I saw only their huarache tracks throughout this 29 mile journey until catching up to two runners a mile from the finish who had stopped to drink some beer at the invitation of a spectator. This had been a very close race with four runners shattering the previous course record of 6:27, held by the gringo raramuri Caballo Blanco. It was a very positive experience for all involved and for me, a great honor to have run in their tracks! Caballo Blanco
3rd Copper Canyon-to-Canyon run: Report and Results Sunday, March 21; 2004
The third
running of the bi-annual Copper Canyon to Canyon
Trail Marathon+, took place this hot first day of
spring. This run was from the deep canyon town of
Urique, to the other deep canyon town of Batopilas.
The distance is 27-29 miles of rock, steep climb and
descent, some dirt road along two rivers, crossing
of pine forests on soft single track trail at 6,000
feet, about 13,000 feet of accumulated up and down,
more rocks, and plenty of other pluses. This
season´s run was plus 100 degree heat!
7 Raramuri {Tarahumara
runners}, displayed incredible performances of what
can only be described as world class athleticism to
arrive at the finish in 5 hours and some change. One
could not imagine the significance of this
achievement without having been here and having
hiked these trails.
The Walk Over:
As usual,
here in the land of mañana, I did not know what to
expect. I had no expectations as I left my house in
the deep canyon town of Batopilas to walk over to
the start of the race in the deep canyon town of
Urique. One runner had showed up at my house the
night before, and I had cooked us dinner and threw
him a futon and blanket to sleep. When we arrived at
the village of Cerro Colorado, 7 miles up-river, we
were joined by another 6 very good traditional
Tarahumara runners from 5 different remote
settlements. There were 8 of us climbing over 4,000
feet out of the Batopilas canyon, crossing about 5
miles of la sierra {the mountains}, taking our time
to rest in the cool pine forests, drink from the
springs, and interact like life´s participants that
we are. Throughout this hike, the Raramuri were
chattering away. I did not understand all of what
was said, as most of the conversation was in the
native Tarahumara language. However, a language that
I do understand! , is laughter; and there was plenty
of this, as they spoke of how tough this race was;
and spoke of the arrogant Apache from Northern
Mexico, who had said that he was going to win it
all. This Apache was named Ramon Chingón; and the
question was: Quien es mas chingón que Ramón?
We camped at
Los Alisos, a rancho located in a lush fruit and
water filled arroyo at about the 20 mile mark in
this direction, and about the 9 mile mark of the
Sunday race. The next morning, we all walked down to
the river, crossed to the dirt road and walked along
the road 5 miles into the town of Urique, where all
eyes along the way were fixed on the renown
traditionally-clad Tarahumara runners.
While in
Urique, we were all treated like the champions that
they are. We ate 3 large, tasty meals and took a
couple of rooms at the nicest hotel in Urique. The
word was that Ramon Chingón, being the chingón that
he is, was held up in a hotel room with 5 women and
and an equal amount of bottles of tequila, partying
hardy.
Race Sunday:
The Race
We ate
breakfast at Tita´s Plaza Restaurant, then lined up
at the start in front of the town plaza. 5 local
Mexicans showed up, claiming to be members of team
Chingón. They all had big beer guts and lasted about
30 meters.
The Tarahumara
and I went out at a 6 minute mile pace. This was too
fast for me! I watched them disappear after that
first mile. I saw only their huarache sandal tracks
throughout this run until the finish at My friend
Mario´s tienda in Batopilas. For me, I ran the first
9 miles faster then ever, climbed the 3,000 feet in
2 miles to the rim in personal record time, then set
out for the cool and undulating trail across the
mountains.
The rocky
4,000 foot descent was tough as always, and even
tougher as I descended into near 100 degree heat to
the Batopilas river, where it was a 7 mile run into
Batopilas. This was the most runnable, fastest
section of the course, where the Raramuri would
really open up and the race would begin. They all
had arrived at the river together. It was on this
home stretch where the cagey veteran, Manuel Luna,
would string the others along before putting the
hammer down to win by 3 minutes over yet another
up-coming 18 year old speedy challenger. For the
third time, the crafty 39 year old veteran would win
this race, his second victory in this direction.
In all of the
state of Chihuahua, this was election day. I had
taken a pledge of $200 from the out-going presidente
of Batopilas to pay the prize for the winner. The
in-coming presidente had pledged 500 kilos of corn
to be split among the 7 Tarahumara runners. This
korima {gift, sharing} was to be waiting at the
finish.
I was on my
own non-Indian record pace upon arrival at Cerro
Colorado along the Batopilas river, though feeling
well abused, happily hiking this most runnable
section of the course into Batopilas, finishing well
off my record time of 6:27, and sprinting to the
finish where I had my race director/sponsor duties
to attend to. My friends Mario and Nena were at the
finish to record the times and places, along with
all the runners who had been waiting, drinking cold
soda.
Nobody else
came.
There was no
presidente at the finish to present the $200 first
prize. There were none of the ten 50 kilo sacks of
maiz {corn}. Like Ramón Chingón, no show.
On this
election day, 7 incredible athletes, and their
friend, had run a very tough trail marathon plus, to
arrive in Batopilas to vote for whoever they thought
would care the most about them. This appeared to be
no-one.
We all walked
to a restaurant in the plaza that had pledged a big
meal of fresh killed beef. I was craving some fresh
killed tofu myself, but knew that the runners would
like the beef. They were all too hot and tired to
eat, taking the barbecued beef in bags to go.
We had our own
little awards presentation on the porch at Mario´s.
The runners were presented $700 in cash prizes, then
caught a ride to Cerro Colorado, where they would
only have 4-10 miles, and only another 3,000 feet
vertical for Manuel, to walk home to their various
ranchos.
I offered to
buy them a hotel room, but all wanted to get out of
the chaos of Batopilas and return to their homes in
the land of the Tarahumara. Would it not be cool if
we could hire these guys as guides, paying them well
to take long easy runs with us and show us around?
This morning,
Tuesday, March 23;
I walked into
the town plaza where I presented the results of the
race to the out-going and in-coming presidentes,
reminding them that we had a race.
They seemed
genuinely interested, both vowing to make good on
their pledges, ahora {now}.
May all of us
run free.
Micah True {Caballo
Blanco}
RESULTS:
1- Manuel Luna
39 Gavilana 5.01 .
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