Running with Sherman

Much of Christopher McDougall’s narrative centers upon the various mentors that he accrues while training Sherman and navigating the world of burro racing. Many of the chapters are structured in a similar manner, with a training session with Sherman leading to the revelation of a new issue. Often, these solutions come in the form of mentors, making mentorship an important motif in the memoir.

The initial mentor, and perhaps the strongest overall, is Tanya, whom McDougall calls the “Donkey Whisperer” (76). She deepens McDougall’s understanding of donkeys, but each new mentor along the way broadens McDougall’s knowledge in one form or another, proving indispensable to Sherman’s later success. From the runners of Vella Shpringa to the advice of Coach Eric, to the wisdom of Curtis Imrie, to the deeply introspective advice of Karin, McDougall is carried to triumph with Sherman through their guidance. Even Kip Otteson, the owner of the Earthship McDougall stays at before the race, offers a mantra—“fear that thing, do that thing” (303)—that McDougall adopts to get him through the hardest sections of the race. The persistence of these mentors in McDougall’s narrative serves to reinforce his central concept of the vital nature of community in any athlete’s success.