[inquisitive piano and gentle brass]
[shimmery music]
♪ ♪
- Angela Fitzgerald: If you ever find yourself strolling through Vernon County,
you'll find a landscape
packed full of twists and turns,
peaks and valleys.
- Roger Pedretti: Well, we don't have any altitude here,
but we don't have any flat either.
So, whenever we're running,
we're up and down hills wherever we go.
[hooves clomping]
- Making the phrase, "Slow and steady wins the race..."
- Roger: Get up there.
- ...Kind of a necessity in these parts. - Yah, yah!
- Unless, of course, you're Roger Pedretti
and his long-time running mate, Samaritan.
- Yah, yah! [clicks tongue]
Get up there!
- They employ a more... colorful technique.
- Yah!
When it comes to race time,
he knows what it's all about,
and he wants to haul ass, basically.
That's what he wants to do.
[playful country music]
- Roger and Samaritan
have been navigating these dusty countryside roads together
for close to 17 years.
- Roger Pedretti: People stop and say, "What are you doing?
I say, "We're going to do a race."
"A race?
You're going to ride 'em?"
And see, a lot of people think you ride these animals.
We don't ride em.
- Pack burro, or small donkey racing,
originated in Colorado, and is associated
with the state's strong history of mining.
- So, the burro race is a runner and the burro.
The burro has to have a pack saddle
equipped with the mining tools because it's a tradition
of the miners out in the mountains of Colorado.
You have a 15-foot rope.
It can't be longer than that.
It can be shorter,
but it can't be longer than a 15-foot lead rope,
and you run together as a team.
[crowd cheering] - Go, Roger.
Go!
- Together, Roger and Samaritan have competed in races
all across the Western United States.
- He's won races.
He's finished top 10 in almost every race he's ever been in.
When he gets to the start line,
he's 750 pounds of muscle
that wants to haul me away,
and it's all I can do to hold on to him.
See, if he gets leverage on me, I can't hold him.
- According to Roger... - Come on.
- The key to success isn't necessarily running the fastest.
- Now, I need my gloves.
Come on.
It's making sure you and your partner share the same strategy.
- Here we go, come on!
You know, these guys are smart.
If they think they can get by
with something like taking a wrong turn
or maybe slowing down and have a bite of grass
or something like that, they'll do it.
Uh-oh! This is not good!
I've gotten dragged on the mountain a little bit,
cracked the ribs, still finished the race as well.
Our motto is kind of "Start 'em, finish 'em!" you know.
You never know what can happen in between.
[hooves clomping]
- Burros seem to prefer running together.
[Western music]
And apparently, so do Pedrettis.
Roger's brother Rick began running in 2011.
- Rick Pedretti: They'll train better if you have a few animals.
- Two of them or three of them, or four of them together
is a lot better than one to run with.
- And from there,
Pedrettis started showing up in droves to race.
- We've had my daughter race.
We've had Rick's wife and Randy's wife both race,
so it's really become a family affair.
- And our nephews.
- Yeah, and our two nephews, as well.
Can't forget them.
[twangy rock music]
We are the Wisconsin Pack Burro Association
right here.
- For both Roger and Rick,
it's a chance to hand over the reins
to the next generation of racer.
- Roger: I turned 60 today,
so my game is as good as it's going to get.
- Rick: Yeah, I'm with Roger.
It's hard to up our games.
We're just happy to maintain it.
- Keep moving.
Happy to be able to keep moving.
- Although the wear and tear of racing can take its toll...
- It's a rock right there.
- ...Roger has no plans to stop anytime soon.
- When I can't run anymore, I'll still train the animals
because those nephews are only eighteen.
They have many years left to run,
so I'll be doing it until-- at least till I hit the wheelchair.
[clicking tongue]
- Relying on an extra 700 pounds worth of motivation
to help keep him going.
- Well, I always say, "After you run with a burro,
everything else is just running."
Let's go! [clicking tongue]
It's a lot more exciting and a lot, you know,
a lot more going on
than just going out for a run by yourself.
Come on! [clicking tongue]
[shimmery music]
[inspirational vocalizing]