Tuesday, Nov 12, 2019 7:00 PM

Location:
Manuel's Tavern
602 North Highland Avenue NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

Chris McDougall, an Associated Press foreign correspondent and bestselling author, trains a rescue donkey to run one of the most challenging races in America.

About the Book

When Chris McDougall agreed to take in a donkey from an animal hoarder, he thought it would be no harder than the rest of the adjustments he and his family had made after moving from Philadelphia to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. But when he arrived, Sherman was in such bad shape he could barely move, and his hair was coming out in clumps. Chris decided to undertake a radical rehabilitation program designed not only to heal Sherman's body but to heal his mind as well. It turns out the best way to soothe a donkey is to give it a job, and so Chris decided to teach Sherman how to run. He'd heard about burro racing--a unique type of race where humans and donkeys run together in a call-back to mining days--and decided he and Sherman would enter the World Championship in Colorado.

Easier said than done. In the course of Sherman's training, Chris would have to recruit several other runners, both human and equine, and call upon the wisdom of burro racers, goat farmers, Amish running club members, and a group of irrepressible female long-haul truckers. Along the way, he shows us the life-changing power of animals, nature, and community.

About the Author

Christopher McDougall covered wars in Rwanda and Angola as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press before writing his best-selling book “Born to Run.” His fascination with the limits of human potential led him to create the Outside Magazine web series, “Art of the Hero.” He currently lives with his wife, two daughters, and a farmyard menagerie in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.