Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biography. Show all posts

June 26, 2014

Run Free - The Movie

 It was early, one of the first mornings after my arrival in Urique. My trip was already turning into a great adventure; not 5 minutes upon arriving to Bahuichivo’s train station, three days prior, I’d stumbled on Caballo Blanco and arranged to meet him again down canyon for some running. He’d showed up in his pick-up truck with a new friend he met in Creel, Olaf Sorensen, and us three had been running, cooking and hanging out ever since.

That special morning would turn out to be the starting point of an incredible adventure, filled with excitement, discovery, friendship, loss and elation. But I didn’t know any of that when, while cooking pinole for breakfast, Micah casually mentioned he would be meeting a film crew the next day to shoot a documentary. And that he wanted Olaf and I to join them.

I really, really didn’t want to do it. What was I to do in any of this anyway? This had nothing to do with me, and the mere thought of being in the back scenes made me feel like a wannabe. So I told Olaf I wouldn’t be going. I said I would just stay at Entre Amigos and do some running on my own, and hang out when they would come back from the shoots.
“Don’t you want to be part of this?”, Olaf asked. “Don’t you want to explore the Canyons, meet the People, spread the message? Would you rather have someone else do this, someone who doesn’t get it? Who’s there just for show?”

With Micah and Sterling Noren, filming
That left me thinking. For about five minutes. Micah showed up at that point and just added “I’d like to have you guys around, you know, for the running and all.” So we agreed we would be his crew, make sure he’d get stuff to eat and a couple extra helping hands for anything he’d need to get done. And off we went.

That was the beginning of an epic adventure, a chain of events that changed my life forever. Because of this, I got to spend five wonderful weeks with Micah, travel all over the Barrancas and develop a meaningful friendship I was convinced would last a lifetime. I got to experience the wild roller coaster of movie making, with its hilarious, infuriating and boring moments. I got to listen in while Micah was telling the real story of Caballo Blanco and Born to Run. I got to be profoundly touched and influenced by a man’s humble dream, message and vision.

This has been my personal journey ever since. Now, more than three years later, everyone is about to share a part of that privileged time. Everyone will get to meet a wonderful, soft spoken, but also hard-headed man who never made any compromise to ensure his actions would make a true difference. Everyone will share intimate, personal conversations with a genuine person who only half-willingly became famous through a strange twist of fate, and decided to, as he said himself, “use the voice he was given”.

Olaf Sorensen, Micah True and myself
Micah True died less than 3 weeks after we finished shooting the scenes of Run Free. The images of this movie turned out to be his last message, his legacy to those others who would listen and care.

You, my friend, are one of these people. If you hang out in FlintLand, you share some values, interests and dreams with me. Today, you get to share much more. Today, you get to make Run Free a reality. You get to help making sure Micah True’s message remains forever.




Please purchase your advance copy of the movie, and help spread the message.

Thank you, and Kuira Ba.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1628890675/run-free-the-true-story-of-caballo-blanco




For the whole duration of the campaign, I will proudly display this reminder on the top left of FlintLand. Whenever you can, please share this and spread the message as much as you want. And if you care about this, please consider supporting our campaign financially.







Run Free, c'est plus qu'un film, plus que le récit intime d'une aventure extraordinaire et trop courte que j'ai vécue avec Caballo Blanco. C'est un message important, positif et vital, que vous pouvez aider à propager. Aidez-nous dans notre campagne Kickstarter en achetant d'avance votre copie du film ou en contribuant financièrement. Aidez-nous à garder le message de Micah True bien vivant.




March 26, 2013

The Caballo Blanco Story

This is a beautiful short story about the life and vision of Micah True, better known as Caballo Blanco, as rendered by New York artist Sam Carbaugh.

As we are nearing March 27, I want to remind the world about my friend and inspiration, Micah True, who went out on his last run one year ago in the beautiful Gila Forest of New Mexico.

Although there is still not a day where I miss him beyond words, I was elated to witness the vitality of his dream and spirit in the Copper Canyons in March, where more than 500 runners, both foreign and Raramuri, gathered for the celebration of peace, friendship and sharing that Micah created from his good will and his actions. 

Like many people in the world, Sam Carbaugh was touched by Micah's passion and devotion to the Raramuri and the simple, humble joy of running. Sam invested his time and talent into creating a small biography that stays true to both who Micah was as person and as the creator of the legendary Copper Canyons Ultra Marathon (now known as Ultra Marathon Caballo Blanco). This is as much a story about Micah True as it is the one of his legacy as Caballo Blanco, Runner of the Sierra Madre.

After making the story of the Raramuri and UMCB their "Monday Inspiration" feature on the week of the race, our friends at Tribesports have decided to pay homage to Caballo Blanco by featuring his story on their ultrarunning blog. For posterity, I will also feature the story right here, on FlintLand, forever.

Run free!