The Adventures of Tornado Blanco
A trek to the Copper Canyons of Mexico is more of a pilgrimage than preparation for a race. Thankfully Hudson is more than familiar with pilgrimages as part of his background. He’s completed two treks on the Camino de Santiago, including the 500-mile Way of St. James across Northern Spain and 150 miles of the Portuguese Route with his Grandma Holly, Kalea, Kristin and I.
The adventure began Thursday, October 28th with a morning start after dropping off Kalea at the Peninsula College campus early childhood development center. By 10:00am, we were off on yet another adventure and had an uneventful first leg of the road trip to Vinci’s house where we arrived at 12:30pm in the afternoon to drop the car off and get a ride the last mile to SEA-TAC just outside of Tacoma, Washington. There was plenty of time to load up for the 2:00pm flight to El Paso, Texas. With the plane leaving the ground and the view of the majestic snow capped mountains in the distance, Hudson was on another epic journey.
Upon arriving in El Paso, Hudson threw on his trusty backpack filled with snacks, candy, trinkets and anything else you could imagine a 5-year-old needs for a grand adventure. I pulled up the Lyft app and within minutes the driver Caitlyn pulled up at the curb. We loaded our backpacks in the trunk and were on the way to meet up with the other runners going on this adventure. The driver, after a very pleasant conversation, dropped us off at Leo’s Mexican Food Restaurant. Hudson pulled up to a table in the room full of about 30 other runners and quickly made friends, chowing down on a few stray nachos on the platter as he waited for his food and juice to arrive.
After dinner, Hudson headed over to Walmart to stock up on supplies before heading to the Econo Lodge for a last bit of television and a short night sleep. We got everything packed up at 3:30am and slowly walked our way to the bus that was waiting less than half a mile away ready to leave at 4:30am to the heart of Mexico deep into the State of Chihuahua. Hudson was dressed in his trusty dinosaur pajamas and loaded up, finding his way towards the back of the bus and curling up on me, as we made our way to the border.
About half an hour later we arrived at the border and walked into the office to get a visa and passport stamp. The next leg of the bus ride was fairly uneventful. Hudson napped a few times and made a few really good connections including Andrew and James who were fathers and naturally took a liking to him. During the bus ride a few of the other runners started referring to Hudson as “Tornado Blanco” (which means “white tornado”) as well as a few other names, but the Tornado Blanco is what stuck through the experience. Let’s just say he has a lot of energy.
The bus stopped in Chihuahua City to pick up another 15 runners. We then swapped buses and headed the last six hours to a mansion hotel overlooking the Copper Canyons. Hudson had an early dinner, gulped multiple juices and snacked on tortillas before calling it an early Friday night at 8:30pm.
After an incredible sleep of over eleven hours Hudson woke up with a burst of energy. WE headed to breakfast which included eggs, hotdogs in sauce, french toast and a bounty of fruit. The cantaloupe was the definite favorite. He devoured three full plates, which was likely over half a cantaloupe. Hungry, growing boy.
After breakfast, I walked with Hudson to the zipline park, taking the tram across the canyon both ways, watching the zipliners cover the over mile long zip line which got them traveling at over 70 miles per hour along the way. Hudson played at a local park with a couple of Tarahumara girls who were taking a break from selling goods. He then ran the two miles back to the mansion, taking a little break on the shoulders of Barefoot Ted Mcdonald and others along the way.
When Hudson returned to the mansion he realized there was a pool on site and quickly ran back to his room to put on some shorts and back to the pool. The pool itself was cold but the hot tub was just over lukewarm which turned out to be a perfect mixture. Hudson jumped back and forth between the two pools and convinced multiple runners including me to grab him by the arms and legs and throw him into the cool crisp water where he would swim to the ledge and quickly make his way back to the hot tub to warm up. In the middle of the swim, Hudson realized to his delight that the chlorine in the water had turned his golden blond locks various shades of green. Our little green goblin.
Hudson took a nap during the pre-race meeting, borrowing a friend’s sunglasses and soaking in the sunset over the Barrancas. After the nap, he feasted on a spaghetti dinner followed by a bonfire, which was a great way to cap off the night. Hudson found his way into the game room and made his first few pool shots, played on the drums, and headed off to sleep at around 10:30pm knowing that tomorrow would be a transfer day to our new location at Michael and Brenda Miller’s place.
In the morning Hudson slept until 7:30am, ate some breakfast, took a pre-race shower and prepared to get ready for the ride. As Hudson and I approached the van he noticed a few runners climbing onto the top. He asked me and with a quick head nod in the affirmative, a giant smile spread across Hudson’s face as he made his way to the top of the van. Hudson made his way down the main hill on top of the van for over half a mile before reaching up with the main bus. After loading onto the bus the drive was a little over two hours to where we were staying with Michael and Kimberly Miller and Mario Munez’s place. There were many other runners including Arnolfo, and other Tarahumara runners.
The group stopped at a town approximately seven miles from the Millers and the last part of the trek was back to vans. After re-supplying sunscreen, jugs of water, juice, cookies and anything else needed for tomorrow’s run, Hudson once again jumped back onto the top of the van. This time accompanied by Andrew, Edder, Luis Tyler Tomescela, Tom Taylor and others for a really fun, windy 30-minute adventure. Upon arriving at the resort, Hudson had vegetable soup, cheese tortillas and fresh fruit juice. Hudson grabbed the key and headed to the Wilderness cabins and explored our very spacious room with three queen size beds and everything you could want, except a tv. The only bummer was the wasps swarming all around. They didn’t bug anyone too much in terms of stinging, but they shook Hudson up pretty good. Hudson started playing with the other kids and found a ball to kick for hours.
Hudson went with James at 6:00pm while Mario Munez and I led the fourth group of seven runners to a temescal ceremony similar to a sweat lodge ceremony. I had a pretty transformative experience praying and reflecting on the year past: releasing struggles, asking for personal healing, focusing on community and world transformation, feeling gratitude for family, kids, growth, and renewal after so much struggle over the past few years. The experience was tough to endure and included bringing in hot rocks, lathering in honey, and receiving only a brief reprieve between each of the four phases as additional rocks are brought in.
The repeated song to welcome each of the four phases was:
The earth is my body
The water is my blood
The wind is my breath
The fire is my spirit.
After the temescal ceremony, I rejoined Hudson by the fire where there was an incredible dinner at the Miller’s house surrounded by runners and incredible conversations.
On Sunday morning, Hudson woke up and got dressed for the half-marathon race and then had a quick breakfast before watching the first runners start the marathon at 8:30am. Lorena Ramirez was one of their top runners, not to mention many international runners and other Mexican and Tarahumara runners. Hudson and I jumped on a van with a Manuel Laura, the Tarahumara runner sitting right next to Hudson. After a 30-minute drive we made our way to the start and lathered on an excessive amount of sunscreen. The race started at approximately 9:45am. On the way up the climb, we saw Lorena Ramirez in the lead for the marathon gliding by us on the rocks on the way to the turnaround. The first mile up the road was steep and hot, but Hudson was a trooper through it all.
Once Hudson hit the road things started cooling off a bit with the shade. There were also some other runners around including Tommy Silva and Jack & Leah Wolf which helped keep a normal tempo. Hudson got into a nice rhythm eating a gummy every few minutes to keep the energy level up. At the 2-mile mark, Hudson took a quarter mile shoulder ride, and then a break at the 2 and a half mile mark for a few minutes. After that Hudson just jumped on my shoulders whenever he needed a breather. Hudson made it to the first aid station at three miles and had some pear Gatorade, pinole (corn drink) which wasn’t a major hit, and a bottle of water. He was on his way. I had the pack loaded down with a massive amount of water, juice, Powerade and snacks. At mile four Hudson had a sliding fall while running down a hill covered with leaves and bruised his hind end a bit, but shook it off within a few minutes. At mile 5, I got stung by a couple of bees in the ankle or perhaps the same bee twice. Thankfully the only bee encounter of the day.
At mile 7 Hudson had completed about 2.5 miles on my shoulders and the majority on his own two feet. As we came through his the camp where everyone was staying, Hudson made the decision to go back out and finish the second half of the course. The second half had much more elevation change. After a quick stop and refueling, we headed down the steep trail with our new friend Jack Wolf. Descending the trail Hudson passed Lorena, Challis, and other top runners on the way down to the valley. After a mile and a half, Hudson jumped on my shoulders and crossed a narrow stream to a flatter section. This section was followed by another ascent and descent before hugging the stream for a mile out to the 10.5 mile turn around. There were some steep ledges and two steep short scrambles that Hudson handled spectacularly. After a sharp left hand turn Hudson and I headed the 100 yards or so to the waterfall and took the first extended break of about 10 minutes with snacks, cookies, candy, and a lot of drinks before the three in a half mile return to the finish.
Hudson remained in good spirits & moved forward with the promise of a medal, his pirate costume, and all the candy he could eat in the evening. On the return trip Hudson counted down from 30 for every 1/10th of a mile. I packed him about half the time for the first half of the return and then Hudson took the reins for the last mile of the course heading up the steep hill. Hudson made the final quarter mile scramble after seeing the lead photographer Tyler Tomascelo and his dog on the trail. The final ascent led Hudson across the finish line, completing the race in 7 hours and 29 minutes to receive his first half marathon medal! This included about 9 miles on his own feet and approximately 5 miles on my shoulders (13.96 miles).
After crossing the finish line, I picked him up and swung him around in circles before walking back to the room for a quick shower and costume change. Hudson came back dressed to the T as a pirate and was the life of the party. He handed out gifts that Kristin had given him and some of the ladies in the group handed him a large bag of candy. He took some for himself and handed the rest out to the group. Arnulfo, the Tarahumara runner, invited Hudson and I to follow him so we followed along. It was right at sunset and we passed along a trail and into a clearing with a beautiful view of the Copper Canyons lit by the glow of a few small campfires just getting prepared. Arnolfo introduced Hudson to his wife and pointed out his costume. Hudson handed her a necklace of beads from his pack and we headed to a ceremonial alter. There were three crosses and chairs set up and multiple large containers filled with a whitish brown liquid: corn beer. Hudson spent a few minutes there watching the sun go down. We watched the fire for a while and then headed back to camp.
About a half an hour later the entire group of runners headed that way and the Tarahumara put on a formal ceremony for the entire group. This included drumming, a ceremony, presenting the drink offering, and a full meal from a cow that had been butchered the day before for the festivities. Luis Escobar said that it was the most formal he had ever seen the Tarahumara group and a major blessing to be included as outsiders. Hudson had a pack of 20 or so kids around him for the few hours the group was there. He was in his element. After the meal, dancing around the fire pit and unlimited candy, Hudson headed for the short walk back to the room where we had another runner, James, staying with us.
On Monday morning, Hudson made his way to the bus at 5:00am for the start of the 2-day journey home. The 17 hours of travel that day and the flight and drive home the next day was another adventure in itself and a blessing to go through in the end.
There is something magical about the Copper Canyons and the people that reside on the earth that it encompasses. To be welcomed into this territory and to experience a few days breathing in the air, focusing on its vistas and gently walking across its surface is an extraordinary experience. If you have a spirit that is tuned to soaking in the fullness of it all, it can be transformative.
The entire experience and this almost week-long journey is one that we will cherish and Hudson will likely remember into his adult years. The adventures of Tornado Blanco will continue, with many more chapters still to come.