Slater rancher Tom Williams pursues burro racing

Had everything gone to plan, Thursday’s workout would have been an important one, and Justine’s hesitation, even as slight as it was, might have been a worry. Everything hasn’t gone to plan, though, and instead of a final tune-up for Williams’ original goal — Saturday’s Burro Days race and celebration in Fairplay — Thursday’s jog saw Williams easing back into the sport. “That felt all right,” Williams said afterward, looking surprised. “I haven’t run for more than a week.” An early July riding accident ended Williams’ hopes of competing not just in the Fairplay race, but also in the other two spires of the triple crown of Colorado burro racing: the Gold Rush Days race in Buena Vista and the Boom Days race in Leadville. Williams fell from his horse and broke his ribs while checking the fence on a friend’s ranch. “The dog got after the horse and (it) bucked me off,” Williams said, looking at the floor and shuffling his feet. “It doesn’t really buck, but I lost a stirrup and fell.” Williams, a native of the Baggs, Wyo., area, has long been a regular runner. He’s completed in half a dozen marathons, logging finishes everywhere from Jacksonville, Fla., to Taos, N.M. He ran the Steamboat Marathon in 2006 and has been a regular in the Steamboat Springs Running Series throughout the years. “I still get between two and 10 miles a day,” said Williams, now 62 years old. It wasn’t until Justine came into his life that he contemplated burro racing. He got the animal from a friend and got the idea to race it from a flier for the Fairplay event...SteamboatPilot