Searchers on Saturday found the body of renowned long-distance runner Micah
True, who vanished four days earlier after heading out from a lodge for a
morning run in the rugged wilderness near New Mexico’s Gila National Forest.The body was discovered at about 6 p.m. in a remote, rugged area of the Gila
Wilderness, the New Mexico state police said.
The cause of death was still unknown, but there were no obvious signs of
trauma, incident commander Tom Bemis told the Boulder Daily Camera
(http://bit.ly/Ham6Td). A medical examiner was en route to examine True’s body
around 7:30 p.m., he said.
The 58-year-old True, whose extreme-distance running prowess is detailed in
the book “Born to Run,” set out on what—for him—would have been a routine
12-mile run Tuesday from The Wilderness Lodge and Hot Springs, where he was
staying. He left his dog at the lodge and never returned. A search began the
next day after.
Lodge co-owner Dean Bruemmer, who helped with the search Saturday, said he
last saw his friend at breakfast. He said True gave no indication of a specific
route, which made the search more difficult.
“There are a lot of trailheads up the road,” said Bruemmer, whose lodge is
about four miles from the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.
Though daytime temperatures in southwest New Mexico have been mild of late,
temperatures dipped into the mid-20s on recent nights. True left for his run
wearing only shorts and a T-shirt and carrying a water bottle.
Fourteen search teams that were scouring the area Friday were supplemented
with additional volunteer teams from across the state Saturday morning, state
police spokesman Lt. Robert McDonald said. Teams were hiking and on horseback
and ATVs. They also used dogs and employed a helicopter and plane in the search.
Bemis said crews likely would begin removing True’s body by horseback or
litter team Saturday night. But he said the body probably wouldn’t make it out
of the area until Sunday because of the terrain.
True, who had been friends with Bruemmer and his wife, Jane, for 10 years,
would often visit their lodge while traveling between Mexico and his Boulder,
Colo., home. As a result, Bruemmer said, True knew the trail system well—which
made his disappearance all the more mystifying.
Michael Sandrock, a columnist who writes about running for The Daily Camera
newspaper in Boulder, knew True for at least 20 years and had run with him. He
called True a pioneer of the sport of ultrarunning, which involves running
extreme distances, often on grueling terrain and many miles longer than a
traditional 26-mile marathon.
True, he said, had a rebellious spirit but never sought to draw attention to
himself even as he became legendary for his talents, which included “just going
up and running for hours and hours at a time.”
“He’s just authentic and genuine. … Micah is a guy who follows his
bliss,” Sandrock said.
He described True as a “legend” among ultrarunners.
“He’s such an integral part of the fabric of the ultra community,”
Sandrock said. “He’s one of the stars.”
True was the race director of The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon, a 50-plus
mile extreme race that took place in Urique, Mexico, on March 4.
He was featured in articles in running magazines and was a central character
— known by his nickname, “Caballo Blanco”—in Christopher McDougall’s
nonfiction best-seller “Born to Run.”
McDougall said he based his book on the first Copper Canyon marathon that
True organized.
“It’s heartbreaking because there was this unique, wonderful running party
he put on in the middle of nowhere, and no one else could make this happen,” he
said.