 Here I am, this is it, this is Yurike, this is my happy place and this is also my fifth time down here and there's a reason why I keep coming back. It's magical down here and I love the people, it's a very friendly community, it's welcoming, I love the mountains obviously, the carancas, the cliffs, I love the food, I love the music, I love the race, and I love the history of the Ramuri people. You know I first came down here in 2015 after having read the book Born to Run and that book just got me so fired up and I thought I got to come down here. Running the race is only a little piece of why I come here. It's the community, it's the solidarity, it's the friendships that I have created with people here in this community and from all over the world. I want to give you a little background about the race. It was started by Micah Tru, otherwise known as Caballo Blanco and he lived for many years down in the copper canyons and he fell in love with the people and he started this race as a way to honor their culture and to bring down people from all over the world so that they could witness the magic of these canyons and he made sure that every single runner would earn food vouchers and this is still going today 20 years later. So I've been a runner all my life. That was the first sport that I fell in love with as a little kid. I was a weird little kid who loved running because I know most kids don't like to run. I like to play actual sports but I like to run and I like to run far. I like to run distances and so at a very young age I got into this sport and I had no idea that it would lead to a lifetime of running and not just in my hometown of Boulder but around the United States and around the world and what running means to me is just friendship and community and support and love and I like pushing myself of course. I love training and hitting a personal best but really I just love going to races because I love the vibe. The vibe at running races is always incredible. People are so supportive and loving and that's the world I want to live in. I wish every day could be a race finish line because the energy at a race finish line and the magic at a race finish line is just off the charts. You know people ask me all the time if it's safe to come here. You know Mexico gets a bad rap in a lot of ways mostly because of narco activity and murders and if you watch the nightly news in the United States it's just it paints Mexico in a very bad light and I've been traveling to Mexico for a lot of my adult life and I have found a completely different side of Mexico than what you would see on the nightly news. I think the people here are incredibly generous and caring and thoughtful. I've never had any major issues and I keep coming back because I just love Mexicans. I do. I love how they just they just live life. They're just carefree and fun and that mixes well with my attitude because I also like those things. It just feels really good to be back here. You know I keep saying that and it's it sounds simplistic but I just feel happy here and I've brought my mom here in 2020 and we had a wonderful time because I like showing the people I love places that I love. So my mom's been here, my brother's been here and now my girlfriend Amelia is here for her very first time and I'm really excited for her to experience this. Oh yeah! Run into the canyons! And speaking of Amelia, whoo! There she is! Oh my god! So, hi Amelia. I'm so glad you're here. So Amelia is a runner, a fast runner. I'll be very lucky if I'm anywhere near her in the race on Sunday but that doesn't matter. What matters is that she's here and I'm so excited to share this with you. This is a really special place to me and I want you to experience all the magic of Yorike and the Kauaio Blanco and all the people and the canyons and it means a lot that you're here. Thank you. I'm stoked to be here. Yeah. How's it feel so far? It's fantastic. I've been here for 24 hours. Yes, I've been here in Yorike for 24 hours and it has exceeded all of my expectations and it's unlike any other pre-race experience that I've ever had. I'm kind of used to people with the nerves and people wanting to make sure everything goes well on race day and here it's just like let's just enjoy this. This is an experience. We are here, we are able to run and let's do this and I just think that that's such a beautiful way to move through life. What are you most looking forward to? I am just looking forward to, I'm looking forward to the race and the people and being out there and everyone cheering themselves on. I'm not used to doing actually bigger races so I'm used to being out in the woods by myself for her long stretches of time but here you know this is a pretty big race with hundreds of people and I just hear the energy is so exciting and I'm just really looking forward to just soaking it all in even when it's super painful because I know it's gonna be super painful at times. See what we have here? We have Nutella, peanut butter and a banana on a tortilla. I call it a Mexican power bar. What's in there? Pop Tarts. What's the story with Pop Tarts? So every year since the 2013, or every race since the 2013 Spartan Race World Championships, I've eaten a Pop Tart pre-race. It's my good luck charm. So the world wants to know what does Amelia Boone put in her hydration pack? I'm a big fan of maple syrup for fueling so these are maple syrup packets. I generally really love mashed potatoes as well. I put them in a little soft glass but no mashed potatoes and nothing that I could set up here so... Don't worry there's burritos on the course. There are burritos instead. I have never had a burrito while racing. Certainly never had beans while racing so we're gonna see... It's gonna open up a whole new world. We're gonna see what this stomach says. Alright, I'm getting close to having everything ready. I have a new pair of orange, hoca, speed goats. I'm very excited about these. I've got my GoPro to run with to document the race for you. I'll have a hydration vest and that's about it. There's plenty of aid stations out there. They have fruit and water and even burritos in some locations which is really the best thing you could ever have at an aid station. And of course I gotta have some good luck Colorado socks on my feet. You ready to rock and roll? Ready to go. Let's do this. Let's do it. Let's go outside. Let's get it. Time to run free. Get to the front. Life is good. Here's the route. We all start off in Urique and head up to the village of Guadalupe, Coronalo. Turn around and head back down. Take a sharp turn and head up to Los Naranjos, the most beautiful part of the course. Then we come back down. We run through the town of Urique again. Out, out, out on the long flat part and then we go up to Los Alizos which is the hardest part of the course but they have the best burritos. Then we head all the way back down. Back up to Guadalupe, Coronalo. Turn around and then we finish in Urique. It is nice and cool right now. I'm really enjoying it. The sun still hasn't come up over those tall canyon walls. But when it does, it's gonna be hot. We're looking at like 85 degrees today. Let's go, let's go! Good job friends! Good job! So we're starting to see some of the leaders turning around up here at the church. Anima, anima, anima! How's it going? Thank you! We're gonna run right past this cool old mission right there. Look at that. Pretty sweet. And it's time to keep moving. Gracias amigos! Eso, eso! Vamos amigos! This is it right here. Just running with all my friends. Vamos, vamos, vamos! Vamos, vamos, vamos! There are so many runners. It seems way bigger than it's ever been. And I love it. The bigger the better for me. Venga, venga, venga, venga! I think I'm more tired from cheering than I am from running. That's alright. Muy bien! I love all the smiles. I love all the smiles. That goes my buddy from Great Britain. Bien hecho! Venga, venga, venga! Tengo el ritmo para allá. Así es. Me siento bien. Venga, bien. Sí, hombre. Cómo te sientes, hombre? Tiene bien. Mira, caballo blanco! Vamos, vamos! Now we take a right turn and head up to Los Naranjos. Alright, here we go. Little walk time. Just getting the rhythm. Homie, homie, espérame! It's easy to get caught up in the fast start because everybody here starts fast. I have to remember that I'm going to be out here for like nine hours. So I got to slow it down a bit. Gather myself and then keep on cruising. I finally found her. The elusive Amelia Boone. There she is. How you doing? Good, how are you? Good. I'm freshening. Feeling good? Yeah. Right on. Might have gone out a bit too hot. Everybody does. I know. It's hard to contain it. So hopefully that doesn't bite me in the butt later on. You'll be fine. You'll be fine. This is stuff I normally don't run in races like. Yeah. And everybody's running it. Okay. You mean up hills? Like steep stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Here we go. Single track time. Okay. I caught up with her. I'm good. She can go now. Whatever. And this, my friends, is the famous pinole, the cornmeal superfood. And now we start the steep single track section, which is probably the most technical part of the course. I look at it as a good excuse to walk. You know, something very interesting in a lot of the races, the trail races in the States, you're running on recreation trails where people go to hike to get outside and just to recreate. These trails are not hiking trails. These trails are ancient trails that lead between the villages here and the canyons. So we're just following the way that people have been walking and running for centuries in these canyons. And it's kind of fun to be running through time and to think of all the people who have created this trail through thousands, millions of footsteps. Vamos, amigos. Vamos. ¿Cómo estamos? Look at this tree. Beautiful. It's nice and shady in here. I like it. Most of the course is in the blaze and hot sun. So I'm going to take a moment to enjoy this. ¡Gracias! ¡Gracias! I got my suero, which is like electrolyte, salty water. ¡Gracias! ¡Gracias! ¡Buenos días! Can you imagine living there? Right here with these canyons right behind you. This place is stunning. ¿Qué escuchas, amigo? Suavecito para abajo. Suavecito para abajo. Para abajo. Él es mi amigo, Valver. Mucho gusto. Lo conocí hace muchos años aquí. Tres años. Yurike. ¡Hey, hombre! Es mi amigo Ryan. ¡Bienvenido! Gracias. No es de Yurike. Yurike es de él. Así es. Parte de mi corazón es. Estaban yurike. Sí. Así es. ¡Me encanta tu tierra, hombre! ¡Gracias! ¡Bienvenido! Gracias. ¿Cómo te gusta esto? Oh, my God, I love it. Es increíble. Es... Unlike any other race that I've done. The people are great. Man, everybody charges hard. I had to remind myself in the beginning we have 50 miles to go. This isn't a 10K. We did it. ¡Animo, animo! ¡Animo! ¡Vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos! I love seeing the ladies in their dresses. Beautiful. That's definitely what makes this race unique. You don't see a lot of that in any races in the United States, that's for sure. ¡Hola amigo! ¡Animo, animal! Alright, finally got down that steep road. I lost Amelia, she took off. She's so fast. And I feel pretty good. I think I might be suffering a little bit from having gone out really fast. So I'm taking it easy for a bit. Eating and drinking. Recuperating. Because there's still more than half of the race left. You can do it, buddy. You know, something I learned a long time ago is just walk through the aid stations. Take time to eat and drink. It's too hard to like run and eat and you're like fumbling stuff around and trying to drink. It's not worth it. So I'm just chilling. Alright, now we're out on the hot, flat part. Pretty much the rest of the race is going to be very hot, very exposed. Not a whole lot of shade. But that's alright. We all knew what we were getting into. We are at the bottom of the canyons after all. ¡Animo amigo, bien hecho! ¡Animo, animal! So we're seeing some of the marathon distance people turning around. So we get to cheer them on, which is fun. It's just a big old running party down here. Everybody's going in a million different directions. So my best time here is just a little over nine hours. I think my best time is nine, ten. But the course was a little bit different. So my goal today is just to maybe go a little bit faster than that. How's that? Always trying to get a little bit better. And having fun. ¡Hola amigo, hola! It's fun having the machine gun guys cheer you on. ¡Vamos, Robert! ¡Vamos, Robert! ¡Gracias! Hello, cow. It really feels so good to be back here. In 2020, the last time I did this, I was with my mom. I ran the race. It was amazing. In little did we know. Little did the whole world know that we were about to be in a pandemic. And this was literally two weeks before the pandemic hit. We were running down here. Had no clue what was about to hit us. And so during the pandemic, I was always very thankful that I got to travel internationally. One last time before everything shut down. ¡Vamos, vamos, vamos! ¡Bien hecho amigos! ¡Eso! They go the three liters. Heading back. That means they've already been to the top of Los Alizos. I'm a little jealous. Just kidding. I gotta earn this. ¡Gracias por la gordita! These aid station people are so excited. They gave me a gordita full of beans to walk across this bridge on. This bridge is really hard to run on because it kind of just takes your energy. So I'm just gonna walk. Here we go. Time to go up to Los Alizos. This for me is always the hardest part. It's steep and it's hot. And I know Amelia is way up there. She's kicking booty. That burns the old calf muscles. But as we all know, nothing hurts as bad as long as you're smiling through it. So, yeah, just keep smiling. Man. I'm crawling up this thing. So something that's pretty interesting to know is that none of these Tarumata Ramaree run for like exercise after work. You know, like we do in the Western world. They are just really awesome athletes because they walk so much and they work hard outside. And they play the rah-rah hippery game which is the game where they kick this very heavy ball for very, very long distances. And so for them, running is just a part of everyday life. It's not like us. Like, oh, I'm gonna wake up at 5 in the morning, go on an hour run, then go to work. That's not how it works here. And it's amazing to see them just fly on these trails in their sandals. And there she is. Holy s***. It's her. Looking great. Oh, thanks. Yeah, Mila, you're amazing. I'm proud of you. Okay, ya estamos en los alizos. ¿Cómo estamos? Vamos bien. Excelente. Sí, hombre, gracias. The State Station has electrolytes, water, oranges, pinoles and a basket full of tortillas and beans. Comer. Bueno, gracias, amigos y amigas por todo. Ustedes son mis héroes. Chocala. Nos vemos. Adiós. Gracias. Vamos, vamos, vamos. Oh, los alizos. It's hard to get to, but I always love being here. Everybody's so cool. And they know that you've suffered to get here. Alright, we're going to hook you up. OK, so 15 minutes ago, I felt pretty good. Now I feel worse. That's how it is running all this. Things can change in an instant. That's alright. Just keep moving forward. That's it. One step in front of the other. Poco a poco. Así es, amigo. Venga, venga, venga. Suerte. Si se puede, si se puede. Bien hecho. Hola, amigo. Ánimo, ánimo. Ah, eso. Ustedes son mis héroes. Gracias por todo. It felt so good to have them pour water on my head. But it just pushed a whole bunch of salt and sunscreen into my eyes and now I'm blind. Vamos, amigo, vamos. Échale. So when I saw Amelia back there, she was leading that there were two women not far at all behind her. Like, 50 meters. So she's got herself a race and I'd say she's probably 45 minutes in front of me at this point. Yep. She's a butt kicker. Come on, Shadow, you can do it, buddy. Huediga, huediga. I just learned that huediga is a rummary for, like, vamos. Let's go. See, here are a lot of people saying huediga, huediga. Hola, donkey. Hola, burro. Burrito es. Un burrito. So I'm in quite a bit of pain right now. I'm hurting. So I'm just focusing on my breathing, really, just big breaths in with my nose and just and what that does is it helps just calm me down a bit because it's easy when you're deep in the pain cave and you're hurting to just panic a little bit like, oh my god, there's no way I can finish. You know, and I think when that happens, when you go down a dark hole, whether you're running or biking or doing anything in life, you know, your mind plays a big part in your success. Chilling out. Enjoying the view. Enjoying the sound of my footsteps hitting the dirt and I'm just moving forward and that's it. Here we are, going through U.E.K. It's always a boost to see so many people. Rico, Ryan Van Poser from Colorado, USA. Hola amigo, ¿qué tal? Woo, I think I can. I think I can. It is a different scene here now. This was so crowded with people earlier in the morning. Now, just me and a few other stragglers. Vamos Miguel, vamos, vamos. Ya casi. That's Miguel Lara. He has won this race six times. He's like a local hero, they call him El Tigre, the tiger and he's super cool. Man, I am worked. You know, I like these experiences. I learn a lot when I do hard things. I learn a lot about myself and what I can do, what I'm capable of and that's a good thing. I like testing myself from time to time. I don't do a ton of ultramarathons but when I do them it's like a special occasion, it's a big deal even if it hurts like a mofo. I see Amelia. I see Amelia. Good job, good job. You look awesome. Where to go? Bam, bam, bam. Go get them. Sweetness. She's going to get third place. That's pretty awesome. Come on, Shadow. Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy. There's nobody to whoop and holler with anymore or at least not many. La ultima pulsera. La ganadora. Platino. There's the cool church. Not moving as fast this time but that's okay. Gracias a todos ustedes. Gracias por todo. Y cuántos kilómetros faltan para Yurike? 7, perfecto. Vamos, vamos. Gracias, amigos. Alright. Alright, alright, alright. Alright, alright, alright. Vamos, amigos, vamos. Ya estamos, ya estamos. It's been fun running into him the whole day. We're excited because we're close. We love running but we also love not running. When it's time to hit the finish line then it's time to chill and I'm definitely looking forward to that. This has been a tough one. Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. I don't know if it's because humans forget pain pretty quickly but this feels like the most I've ever struggled in this race. But that's okay. I feel like when I struggle sometimes I really find the most value in the experience because I'm really having to push it and this gives me confidence going forward in life that I can do hard things. And when it gets to the point like it is right now where I'm like, oh my god, I can't. I know I can. Me go. Échale ganas. Sí hombre. Yeah. We're getting closer. We're getting closer. Gracias. Yeah, vamos, vamos. Sí, vamos. Hola. Good to see you. Gracias, hombre. What a day. What a place to run. I love it here. It's really special and I hope to always be able to come back here. It means a lot to me. Viva Urique. Deceptively hard. Yeah, it's a hard one. Gracias. Excelente. Gracias igualmente. Sí, qué buena. Sí. Mejor es piernas que tú. Sí, es cierto. Thank you. This is how you should cool down after every race. Sitting on the street with everybody because the party is on the street and just loving life. I mean this is why I come down here. The race is cool but this moment right here everybody loves it. There's so much pride for this town and this race and it's like one of the biggest days of the year here in Urique and you got to live it. It's amazing. It's absolutely incredible. So tough, tough race but then everybody's just out here partying and having a good time. Got festive music. It's amazing.