Hundreds of people from around the state gathered in the historic mining town of Cerrillos on May 4 for its third annual Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race.
Pack burro racing is a sport that originated to honor the impact burros had in establishing mining communities like Cerrillos and Madrid. Shane Weigand, the race director, said this year’s race had the largest turnout with almost 300 spectators and 66 teams who participated, either completing the 3-mile or the 6-mile course.
“It’s grown quite a lot,” Weigand said. “It is nice to have a race in New Mexico since this is where burros started as working animals and the animals that built our state. It is cool to be able to continue on that mining heritage with our new way of doing it.”
While the race is a traditional event, a new community event, Art in the Park, allowed visitors to see local art, jewelry, soap, and leatherwork while waiting for the racers to return.
“It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour for some of those teams to start to come in, so it’s a good thing for people to check out all the local artists and there was music and food,” Weigand said. “They did a smaller version last year, but they went full-on with a couple of dozen vendors this year, which was fantastic.”
Weigand said the race was a success but unfortunately, a local veteran racer was injured at the beginning of the race with a hip fracture and was transported to St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe.
“Things like that are pretty rare, that is the first time we’ve had a true emergency response but it definitely qualifies as an extreme sport,” Weigand said. “He did have surgery but he is out of the hospital and doing well.”
The 66 teams came from New Mexico and Colorado. The youngest participant was a 7-year-old from Colorado, and the last-place finisher was an 8-year-old from New Mexico.
Alexis Knight, along with burro Figaro, was the top female in the 6-mile course; Marvin Sandoval, along with burro Buttercup, was the top male for the 6-mile course; Kori Mannon, along with burro Trapper, was the top female for the 3-mile course; and Ryan McCauley, along with burro Koshare, was the top male in the 3-mile course.
One of the 3-mile racers, Mari Lyford from Albuquerque, said she enjoys the sport because of the relationship you build with the animals. She and her burro Rufus have been pack burro racing since 2019. They have run in 25 races in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. Last year, they won the 3-mile course in Cerrillos.
“You go the first time and you are hooked,” Lyford said. “We train on the weekends, usually we go every Saturday on a group walk or run. It’s good to train to form a companionship with your burro, so I have been fortunate to do that. It’s an amazing sport, it creates so much community and friendship.”
For more information about the Turquoise Trail Pack Burro Race or to join a team, visit the New Mexico Pack Burros website at https://www.nmpackburros.com/cerrillos.