There are many, many reasons to love Colorado and the annual Donkey Dash in the high altitude mountain town of Creede is one of them. Every Summer the town’s population swells (during Winter the donkeys would likely outweigh the number of residents!) with spectators to watch runners and their donkeys climb the mountains through the historic mining district, itself already ~10k feet above sea level. 

So if you love trail running with your favorite donkey, don’t delay entering for next year! We, however, will continue to just cheer on the crazies incredibly athletic men and women with their shins of steel from the sidelines. (BTW, the race is BYOB (bring your own burrow), but you can rent one for the event!)

History has it that two 19th-century miners found gold in the same location at the same time in the high mountains outside of Creede and needed to race back to town to be the first miner to stake a claim on the valuable find. However, because their burros were loaded down with all their mining gear & supplies, they couldn’t ride them down so now modern day participants aren’t allowed to ride them either!

Not as fast as horses, donkeys can still run faster than humans (some say up to 15mph, sometimes more) and are incredibly strong, but if said donkey doesn’t feel like running, they just won’t so it’s always a bit of a gamble. In our race, one donkey in particular coming around the final bend decided he was just done and needed LOTS of prodding to officially cross the finish line. You know that saying “stubborn as a mule”? I think donkeys stole it for themselves.

Given their grueling nature, the races are long—anywhere from 1 1/2 to 4+ hrs—so the spectators fill the time with poop scooping the streets (make it into a contest and the kids get really into it!), mini-donkey races and of course, two stepping in the street! All in all, a truly delightful way to spend a summer afternoon in the mountains of Colorado.