Latest news with #Polonsky
03-05-2025
- Sport
Backcountry runners embrace the thrill of racing with burros in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. -- Backcountry runners are embracing the physical and emotional challenge of racing with pack burros that don't always move at their pace. Burro races honor Old West history and hinge on a delicate partnership between runner and beast of burden. Burros, a Spanish-derived word for donkeys and their wild cousins, must carry a saddle, pick, pan and shovel in homage to a bygone era and the mythical sprint by miners to a land claims office with their pack animal. Some 70 teams will test their skills Saturday in a race winding through the historic, turquoise-mining town of Cerrillos in northern New Mexico. Runners will lead burros by rope on a 6-mile (10-kilometer) or 3-mile (5-kilometer) course on unpaved roads and single-track desert trails. More ambitious burro races in Colorado can extend for nearly 30 miles (48 kilometers). Racers often buy or inherit burros from owners who run out of money, time or patience. Others adopt burros that were corralled by the federal government to prevent overpopulation. Novices easily can rent an ass to try it out for kicks. The race in Cerrillos, which provided the rugged backdrop in the 1980s Western "Young Guns," starts with a madcap sprint as competitive teams gallop to the front of the pack, and other burros instinctively attempt to keep pace. Runners can't ride the burro but can push, pull and coax the animal as long as they don't abuse it. Some racers swing a rope in circles — like a lasso — to encourage movement. Others on the trail cry out, 'Hup, hup!' Joe Polonsky of Monument, Colorado, took up burro racing in 2018. He described himself as a mediocre ultramarathon runner, but in burro racing he's a top contender. 'I am fortunate because Jake does like to be up front at the start of the race,' Polonsky said about his four-legged partner. 'So I will let him pull me.' Burros wear a halter, which is less restrictive than a horse's bridle and bit, attached to a 15-foot (4.5-meter) rope held by the runner. Some racers tether the rope to their waist and draft off the burro. A burro race can devolve into a contest of wills when the animals get defiant and won't budge. But experienced racers say that doesn't mean the donkeys are being stubborn. They're smart and naturally curious animals. When they sense danger, discomfort or the unknown, they will lock down in place, unlike horses that quickly flee. 'If something scares them and they're nervous, they're going to just stop and assess the situation," Polonsky said. Healthy donkeys typically live 40 years or more and vary in size from waist-high 'minis' that may weigh 300 pounds (135 kilograms) to bulky 'mammoths.' Burros first appeared in the region more than 400 years ago, led from Mexico City by Spanish settlers and Catholic friars. For those who rent or borrow a burro for the race, they are encouraged to show up early or even the night before to get acquainted with their racing buddy, not unlike a blind date, said Lisa Kazmar, a massage therapist from Edgewood, New Mexico, who owns four burros with names taken from Harry Potter novels. 'You don't know what the new donkey is going to do, it can be very scary,' Kazmar said. Burro racing emerged shortly after World War II in depopulated Colorado mining towns and now is an official state-heritage sport with marquee races in Leadville, Buena Vista and Fairplay that blend county-fair cheer and athleticism. The pun-loving Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation manages the modern race circuit that extends from the Tombstone Donkey Dash in Arizona to a Weekend at Burney race in Cassel, California, and a new 'burro stampede' this year in the Magdalena Mountains of New Mexico. Tennessee got in on the action five years ago with a race held annually in April. Race and team sponsors include veterinary clinics, as well as brands selling sneakers, hydration drinks and beef jerky. At Cerrillos, the teams compete for Western belt-buckle trophies, including a 'last ass' award for the final finisher. Success in racing doesn't come easy, according to Shane Weigand of Edgewood, New Mexico, a construction manager, burro race organizer and backcountry outfitter for burro-pack trips and 'tequila-burro' weddings. 'You have to spend a lot of time on the trail with your burro, building up that relationship and trust,' he said.
The Independent
03-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Backcountry runners embrace the thrill of racing with burros in New Mexico
Backcountry runners are embracing the physical and emotional challenge of racing with pack burros that don't always move at their pace. Burro races honor Old West history and hinge on a delicate partnership between runner and beast of burden. Burros, a Spanish-derived word for donkeys and their wild cousins, must carry a saddle, pick, pan and shovel in homage to a bygone era and the mythical sprint by miners to a land claims office with their pack animal. Some 70 teams will test their skills Saturday in a race winding through the historic, turquoise-mining town of Cerrillos in northern New Mexico. Runners will lead burros by rope on a 6-mile (10-kilometer) or 3-mile (5-kilometer) course on unpaved roads and single-track desert trails. More ambitious burro races in Colorado can extend for nearly 30 miles (48 kilometers). Racers often buy or inherit burros from owners who run out of money, time or patience. Others adopt burros that were corralled by the federal government to prevent overpopulation. Novices easily can rent an ass to try it out for kicks. Quick start to the race The race in Cerrillos, which provided the rugged backdrop in the 1980s Western "Young Guns," starts with a madcap sprint as competitive teams gallop to the front of the pack, and other burros instinctively attempt to keep pace. Runners can't ride the burro but can push, pull and coax the animal as long as they don't abuse it. Some racers swing a rope in circles — like a lasso — to encourage movement. Others on the trail cry out, 'Hup, hup!' Joe Polonsky of Monument, Colorado, took up burro racing in 2018. He described himself as a mediocre ultramarathon runner, but in burro racing he's a top contender. 'I am fortunate because Jake does like to be up front at the start of the race,' Polonsky said about his four-legged partner. 'So I will let him pull me.' Burros wear a halter, which is less restrictive than a horse's bridle and bit, attached to a 15-foot (4.5-meter) rope held by the runner. Some racers tether the rope to their waist and draft off the burro. Burros are cautious, not stubborn A burro race can devolve into a contest of wills when the animals get defiant and won't budge. But experienced racers say that doesn't mean the donkeys are being stubborn. They're smart and naturally curious animals. When they sense danger, discomfort or the unknown, they will lock down in place, unlike horses that quickly flee. 'If something scares them and they're nervous, they're going to just stop and assess the situation," Polonsky said. Healthy donkeys typically live 40 years or more and vary in size from waist-high 'minis' that may weigh 300 pounds (135 kilograms) to bulky 'mammoths.' Burros first appeared in the region more than 400 years ago, led from Mexico City by Spanish settlers and Catholic friars. For those who rent or borrow a burro for the race, they are encouraged to show up early or even the night before to get acquainted with their racing buddy, not unlike a blind date, said Lisa Kazmar, a massage therapist from Edgewood, New Mexico, who owns four burros with names taken from Harry Potter novels. 'You don't know what the new donkey is going to do, it can be very scary,' Kazmar said. Modern race circuit Burro racing emerged shortly after World War II in depopulated Colorado mining towns and now is an official state-heritage sport with marquee races in Leadville, Buena Vista and Fairplay that blend county-fair cheer and athleticism. The pun-loving Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation manages the modern race circuit that extends from the Tombstone Donkey Dash in Arizona to a Weekend at Burney race in Cassel, California, and a new 'burro stampede' this year in the Magdalena Mountains of New Mexico. Tennessee got in on the action five years ago with a race held annually in April. Race and team sponsors include veterinary clinics, as well as brands selling sneakers, hydration drinks and beef jerky. At Cerrillos, the teams compete for Western belt-buckle trophies, including a 'last ass' award for the final finisher. Success in racing doesn't come easy, according to Shane Weigand of Edgewood, New Mexico, a construction manager, burro race organizer and backcountry outfitter for burro-pack trips and 'tequila-burro' weddings. 'You have to spend a lot of time on the trail with your burro, building up that relationship and trust,' he said.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Backcountry runners embrace the thrill of racing with burros in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Backcountry runners are embracing the physical and emotional challenge of racing with pack burros that don't always move at their pace. Burro races honor Old West history and hinge on a delicate partnership between runner and beast of burden. Burros, a Spanish-derived word for donkeys and their wild cousins, must carry a saddle, pick, pan and shovel in homage to a bygone era and the mythical sprint by miners to a land claims office with their pack animal. Some 70 teams will test their skills Saturday in a race winding through the historic, turquoise-mining town of Cerrillos in northern New Mexico. Runners will lead burros by rope on a 6-mile (10-kilometer) or 3-mile (5-kilometer) course on unpaved roads and single-track desert trails. More ambitious burro races in Colorado can extend for nearly 30 miles (48 kilometers). Racers often buy or inherit burros from owners who run out of money, time or patience. Others adopt burros that were corralled by the federal government to prevent overpopulation. Novices easily can rent an ass to try it out for kicks. Quick start to the race The race in Cerrillos, which provided the rugged backdrop in the 1980s Western "Young Guns," starts with a madcap sprint as competitive teams gallop to the front of the pack, and other burros instinctively attempt to keep pace. Runners can't ride the burro but can push, pull and coax the animal as long as they don't abuse it. Some racers swing a rope in circles — like a lasso — to encourage movement. Others on the trail cry out, 'Hup, hup!' Joe Polonsky of Monument, Colorado, took up burro racing in 2018. He described himself as a mediocre ultramarathon runner, but in burro racing he's a top contender. 'I am fortunate because Jake does like to be up front at the start of the race,' Polonsky said about his four-legged partner. 'So I will let him pull me.' Burros wear a halter, which is less restrictive than a horse's bridle and bit, attached to a 15-foot (4.5-meter) rope held by the runner. Some racers tether the rope to their waist and draft off the burro. Burros are cautious, not stubborn A burro race can devolve into a contest of wills when the animals get defiant and won't budge. But experienced racers say that doesn't mean the donkeys are being stubborn. They're smart and naturally curious animals. When they sense danger, discomfort or the unknown, they will lock down in place, unlike horses that quickly flee. 'If something scares them and they're nervous, they're going to just stop and assess the situation," Polonsky said. Healthy donkeys typically live 40 years or more and vary in size from waist-high 'minis' that may weigh 300 pounds (135 kilograms) to bulky 'mammoths.' Burros first appeared in the region more than 400 years ago, led from Mexico City by Spanish settlers and Catholic friars. For those who rent or borrow a burro for the race, they are encouraged to show up early or even the night before to get acquainted with their racing buddy, not unlike a blind date, said Lisa Kazmar, a massage therapist from Edgewood, New Mexico, who owns four burros with names taken from Harry Potter novels. 'You don't know what the new donkey is going to do, it can be very scary,' Kazmar said. Modern race circuit Burro racing emerged shortly after World War II in depopulated Colorado mining towns and now is an official state-heritage sport with marquee races in Leadville, Buena Vista and Fairplay that blend county-fair cheer and athleticism. The pun-loving Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation manages the modern race circuit that extends from the Tombstone Donkey Dash in Arizona to a Weekend at Burney race in Cassel, California, and a new 'burro stampede' this year in the Magdalena Mountains of New Mexico. Tennessee got in on the action five years ago with a race held annually in April. Race and team sponsors include veterinary clinics, as well as brands selling sneakers, hydration drinks and beef jerky. At Cerrillos, the teams compete for Western belt-buckle trophies, including a 'last ass' award for the final finisher. Success in racing doesn't come easy, according to Shane Weigand of Edgewood, New Mexico, a construction manager, burro race organizer and backcountry outfitter for burro-pack trips and 'tequila-burro' weddings. 'You have to spend a lot of time on the trail with your burro, building up that relationship and trust,' he said.
New York Times
27-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Leonard Polonsky, Philanthropist Who Supported the Arts, Dies at 97
Leonard S. Polonsky, a philanthropist who funded the arts and helped make significant historical artifacts and documents available to the public, including Sir Isaac Newton's early papers and a letter from Christopher Columbus's maiden voyage, died on March 14 at his home in Manhattan. He was 97. The cause was diastolic heart failure, his wife, Georgette Bennett, said. Mr. Polonsky made his fortune in the financial services sector, when his company, Hansard Global, a successor to one he founded in 1970, went public on the London Stock Exchange in 2006, earning him a profit of 99 million pounds. But his philanthropy began earlier, in 1985, when he started the Polonsky Foundation, in an effort to support the arts. Among its many beneficiaries was the Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn, where Mr. Polonsky was born. The theater, which specializes in preserving, performing and studying the works of Shakespeare, received a gift of $10 million in 2013, and its venue was renamed the Polonsky Shakespeare Center. In 2021, Mr. Polonsky made a $12 million donation to establish a new permanent exhibition at the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. Library employees spent three years sifting through 56 million artifacts in storage to identify 250 or so of the most awe-inspiring. The resulting display, known as 'The Polonsky Exhibition of the New York Public Library's Treasures,' resembles a gilded curio shop of priceless items — among them, George Washington's copy of the Bill of Rights (with 12 amendments instead of 10); Thomas Jefferson's annotated version of the Declaration of Independence; a Gutenberg Bible; an Andy Warhol painting of a Studio 54 ticket; and stuffed animals that inspired A.A. Milne's 'Winnie-the-Pooh.' The idea for the exhibition — which, as of June 2024, had attracted some two million visitors — emerged from a 2016 meeting Mr. Polonsky had with Anthony W. Marx, the president and chief executive of the New York Public Library. Mr. Marx happened to show Mr. Polonsky a letter Christopher Columbus wrote in 1493, informing the Spanish royal court of land he had discovered. 'The whole colonial enterprise was laid out in that letter,' Ms. Bennett, his wife, said in an interview. 'Leonard said, 'This is the New York Public Library — why am I the only one who's seeing this?'' Mr. Polonsky's foundation also made it possible, in 2011, for the Cambridge University Library to digitize Isaac Newton's early papers and an annotated first edition of his 'Principia.' Beginning in 2012, the foundation funded a collaboration between Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and the Vatican Library, resulting in the digitization of 1.5 million pages from early printed books written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. And in 2014, it helped establish the Polonsky Academy for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. In a 2013 ceremony, Queen Elizabeth II named Mr. Polonsky a Commander of the British Empire for charitable services. 'Support for the arts seems so natural to me that it would be strange if I didn't do it,' he said in 'The Art of Being Leonard,' a 2010 documentary commissioned by his family. Leonard Selwyn Polonsky was born on April 13, 1927, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the eldest of three sons of Murray Polonsky, who owned a tobacco store, and Sadie (Futoran) Polonsky, who oversaw the home. He attended Townsend Harris High School, in Queens, where students were required to take a version of the Ephebic Oath, which concludes, 'I shall not leave my city any less but rather greater than I found it.' After high school, he attended New York University, graduating when he was 18, in 1944. Following a year and a half of Army service, he traveled to Europe in 1947, basking in what he called the 'curious intimacy' of postwar London and cultivating an interest in art in Paris. The next year, he married Beata Herzfeld, who died in 1989. In addition to Ms. Bennett, whom he married in 2001, he is survived by three children from his first marriage, Alan, Marc and Nicole Polonsky; a stepson, Joshua-Marc Tanenbaum; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Toby, a son from his first marriage, died in 1986. During his time in Europe, Mr. Polonsky studied at Oxford, where he earned a bachelor's degree in literature, and the Sorbonne, where he received a doctorate in literature. He began his financial career in 1955, selling mutual funds in Rome. He established his foundation in Britain, with the intent of democratizing knowledge and preserving international cultural heritage. Soon after, around 1986, he renounced his U.S. citizenship, in part for tax reasons, and settled in London, where he kept a home. Well into his 70s, Mr. Polonsky retained his enthusiasm for learning. In 2002, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in literature at the City University of New York, cramming for tests and writing term papers as he had done in his youth. 'He still needed to get straight A's,' Ms. Bennett said. 'And he did.'
