Ashes of ultra runner Micah True spread at Chautauqua in Boulder
For years, Micah True was a fixture on the trails of Boulder. Now, six months after his death, "Caballo Blanco" has returned home.
About 20 of True's friends gathered Friday at Chautauqua to remember True and spread some of his ashes along the trails.
The Boulder ultra-runner rose to fame when he was featured in the best-selling book "Born to Run."
He died from heart disease during a run in New Mexico's Gila wilderness March 27. An autopsy report showed that True, 58, had cardiomyopathy, a disease that results in the heart becoming enlarged.
On Friday, True's girlfriend, Maria Walton, handed out cards with pictures of him and a verse, as well as black rocks called "Apache tears," which, according to legend, were formed by Apache widows grieving for their husbands.
"I grieve and I cry every day for Micah," Walton said. "But tonight he will be back among the Boulder trails he loved."
Shortly after his body was found, about 200 of True's friends gathered at Chautauqua and ran to commemorate him. On Friday, the smaller group returned to spread his ashes.
Michael Sandrock, a friend of True and the Daily Camera's running columnist, said the group walked up the Enchanted Mesa Trail, which True ran often. Tom Masterson, an ultra-runner and retired physics professor, led the way.
About a half-mile up the Enchanted Mesa, he said, Walton stopped, and the group gathered next to a big rock and several pine trees.
