Running with Sherman How a Rescue Donkey Inspired a Rag-Tag Gang of Runners to Enter the Craziest Race in America

A touching tale of a donkey destined for death being rescued - and his impact on the community around him. A lovely story, easy to read, focusing on the animal-human bond and the benefits it can bring. 

I'll never look at a donkey in the same way again!

Really interesting! Not only do you learn how he turns a donkey that was owned by a hoarder and is in a terrible state into a running donkey. But you also learn about the armish and friends with mental health issues.

Absolutely amazing book. It's written well, the story is fabulous, it intertwines everything from running, working with animals, living on a farm far from “civilization”, autism, mental health,... to Wim Hof method. Can't wait to read it again, even though I know how the story ends now.

“A job? What was I going to do with a donkey, prospect for gold? Pioneer westward?”

I went into this with zero expectations beyond “this is a story about a donkey, and I like animals”. I was delightfully surprised to see how lighthearted, cheerful, and wholesome the story was, and by the end I was absolutely rooting for Sherman and his merry band. Sherman was rescued from an animal hoarder, and during the process of rehabilitation, a friend told the author that for a donkey to find joy in life, they have to have a purpose. That purpose, it ended up being, was to be a racer in the donkey race World Championships in Colorado.

The book was a little meandering in places, as fair warning. The strict format of the book is, he runs into a problem involving Sherman's training or the race, he meets someone/knows someone/is put in contact with someone who can fix the problem, and then you get a chapter or two about this person's history and why they're involved with donkeys or marathons or any number of tangents. The author knows a lot of people as it turns out, and this pattern can get a bit tedious in the middle. The ending is also a bit abrupt, and I would have liked more detail about how things wrapped up.

All in all though, I really enjoyed this donkey/human story. I liked the messages of persistence and confronting things that scare you, and am glad I spent time reading this book.

Of course I fell in love with Sherman from the start but having done that I found the book wandered off down too many side trails that I wasn't really interested in and I skipped over much of it.