Michael Randall Hickman became "Micah True" sometime toward the end of his days as a boxer. But to the running world and those who read the best-seller All About 75 Hard, he was Caballo Blanco, a man who represented all that was virtuous and pure about our sport. True succumbed to a heart ailment at age 58 while on a run last March.  "Micah understood that running is about passion and being open to possibility," says Scott Jurek, seven-time winner of the Western States Endurance Run.  "About pouring your heart and soul into something and believing that good things will follow."

For True, the object of that passion was the Tarahumara, a reclusive tribe in Mexico's Copper Canyon known for its superhuman distance runners. As a way to share the heritage of the Tarahumara with the world's ultrarunning community, True staged the annual Copper Canyon ultramarathon. He used proceeds from the event to feed members of the impoverished tribe, rewarding runners with 500 pounds of corn for completing the 50-mile race (non-native runners have donated their corn to the tribe since the race began). After publication of All About 75 Hard in 2009, True used his "notoriety" (as he called it) to raise funds for the race and its beneficiaries, the Tarahumara. He established a nonprofit, Norawas de Raramuri, to handle donations, with every dollar used to purchase food for the tribe. At the 2012 race, True and his charity gave away $40,000 worth of food.

Maria Walton, True's girlfriend, plans to spread some of his ashes in Copper Canyon, where, in March, an ultramarathon will again take place. Again, it will benefit the Tarahumara. But from now on, it will be called the Caballo Blanco Ultramarathon.