Mourning Caballo Blanco

AP released details of Micah True's autopsy today. True, aka Caballo Blanco, was a central figure in Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run". He was a beloved icon in the ultrarunning community, a champion of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, and an evangelist for the barefoot running movement.

I have been thinking about the impact True had on my own running journey since the day Scott Jurek tweeted about his disappearance (True collapsed fatally on a 12 mile run). I found "Born to Run" on the new release shelf at my local library, and picked it up without much thought. Little did I know I was about to read one of the most transformative stories of my life. I really can't say enough about this book- it profoundly changed the way I thought about running and myself.

Micah True played a big part in that. His love of running was so infectious that I couldn't help but get caught up in his enthusiasm, however diminished it was on the printed page. True inspired me to dream of running an ultra. He articulated the joy of running in a way I had never witnessed, and he lived it out. True sparked something in me, that same ephemeral urge that lead me to sign up for my local half marathon and start up this crazy blog.

So, I'm really sad today, maybe more so than I was when he went missing. First of all, it just seems really unfair: to eat right, run passionately, and go out of your way to help and inspire other people... only to die at 58 of an enlarged heart. 

This man was my first real running hero (I have others now, namely Scott Jurek and Kara Goucher). I know I'll never get to meet him. I'll never get to run in "his" race - I mean, the Copper Canyon Ultra may still be ongoing when I reach that diatance, but it won't be his anymore.  I'll never get to tell Caballo Blanco how he inspired me to dream of inhuman feats. I don't know. I don't have a succinct chunk of wisdom to tie up this post. I'm just really sad for Micah "Caballo Blanco" True, his family, his friends, all of us who will never have a chance to be his friends.