Every year, in an historic mining town in the mountains, runners lace up their running shoes and approach the starting line with their most loyal burro by their side.
The , southwest of Colorado Springs, sees athletes and burros run side-by-side over mountain trails and roads.
Pack burro racing is the . Burros, also known as donkeys, are outfitted with a saddle carrying a pickax, a shovel, and a gold pan. Carrying these objects honors Colorado鈥檚 history of gold mining.
Running one of these races requires not only athleticism, but skill in persuading some notoriously stubborn animals, says , a reporter for the Colorado Sun. She recently set out to complete her first pack burro race and .
Olivia told Erin O鈥橳oole about how she prepared and what made her want to try running with a burro in the first place.
Check out this list of from the Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation.
