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Be ASS Happy ASS You Can Be!

aaroncapper

If you’re at a pack burro race and feel a surge of energy, you'll see a couple in matching bright colors- you’ve spotted Karin Usko and John Auborn from Ridgecrest, CA! The first time we met Karin in 2017, she simply said, “There are good days, bad days, and donkey days!"


Karin and John’s personal adventures into burros and pack burro racing began with two friends Bill Dickey and Megan Zehendner. Yes, it is all their fault! Bill, a humble 81 year old running legend, visits Ridgecrest often, and has run just about every race. Each year since the 1980s, he goes to Leadville for the 100 mile run, now mostly as a supporter, but is well known in town. Since 1949, Leadville has hosted a pack burro race climbing to 13,185 ft to Mosquito Pass. This comes full circle when he sent newspaper articles on pack burro races to John and Karin and told them it was the perfect sport for them as they had mules and like running. Nope! They didn’t need burros!


Friend and instigator number two was Megan. For several years, Megan and her husband organized a Man vs Horse race in Inyokern, CA with distances between 10 and 50 miles where runners compete directly with riders for time and prizes. John and Karin rode the first one and ran the next few years. Karin won buckles each way, riding her mule one year and then running on foot the next to claim first female overall in the marathon- yes she ran on foot and beat some horses! Megan also started working at the local BLM Wild Horse & Burro Corrals managing the adoptions. She pushed hard for them to get burros. “Anyone can train a wild burro,” she said, and Karin took the bait.



In 2016, they brought home Matilde, a 10 year old jenny and Telma, a yearling with promise. Karin enrolled in the Trainer Incentive Program and started a landslide of burro love as she found new homes for once wild burros that she worked her magic with, training wild burros to become happy family members. Matilde is now with her forever family in a beautiful mountain setting. Telma has continued to steal their hearts and is forever home with Karin and John.


From humble beginnings, training and running with their own burros, Karin and John created the CALIFORNIA BREAKFAST BURRITOS. After their weekend burro runs and hikes, the group would stop to share a breakfast. With some researching and reaching out to the pack burro racing community, John and Karin headed to Colorado in 2017 to see what the pack burro races were all about. Amber Wann, burro matchmaker extraordinaire, paired John with Beethoven for 15 miles in Fairplay. John having burro experience hit it off with Beethoven at their training run.


On race day morning, John and Beethoven schmoozed while waiting for the start and Beethoven let out an enormous bray! Beethoven was ready! More than 70 teams were lined up, and with a shotgun blast start, they raced down the main street with burros running far faster than a normal human pace. Being John’s first burro race, he lined up far back in the pack, but burros love to run, and one by one, Team Beethoven passed more teams. Beethoven could have ran much faster, but John was at his limit. Team Beethoven placed 7th, winning a little prize money. John was told afterwards that Beethoven was a “slow” donkey who finished last the year before. He was hooked! John and Karin now return each year with their own burros.


RUN WITH THE BURROS, CALIFORNIA is born! In 2019, Karin and Megan decided they missed the Inyokern, CA Man vs Horse race. That race had a good run, was popular in the running community, but never drew enough horses to keep it challenging. Megan wanted her husband Jason to be able to run his course as he had always been too busy as race director, and Karin wanted a burro race. Burro races are a long tradition in the mining community. Locally, Randsburg, Lone Pine, Death Valley, Ballarat, and Beatty have had burro races as far back as 1897. Some were just for spectacle and some were arduous like the 3 day, 42 mile races from Apple Valley to Big Bear.


They were all in and up for the challenge! Not everyone can run with a burro, so John and Karin allowed anyone to compete in their 2020 race. Run, hike, or crawl- with or without a burro for 10 miles or 26 miles. The pandemic changed their inaugural race from April to October and was met with great success! Their t-shirt sales through the year and the event raised $5000, which they donated to Forever Home Donkey Rescue & Sanctuary in Benson, AZ. Returning back to the schedule, their second race was scheduled a mere 6 months later. John and Karin were able to once again donate $5000 to Forever Home. Their generosity and fervent love of burros evolved the California Breakfast Burritos into a non-profit charity. To learn more about the happy couple and the Run with the Burros event, check out CALIFORNIA BREAKFAST BURRITOS and RUN WITH THE BURROS, CALIFORNIA.

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