He was respected by athletes he covered, by coaches he worked with and by everyone in the sports media. He befriended everyone. We've lost a real character who will always be in the folklore of sports journalism in New Mexico.

Everybody talks about the Santa Fe Trail. They know it was an important part of history but only 1 percent can find it on the map or knows about it in person.

They had nothing to ask, because we had it all covered. We did our homework.

The race fits the culture of New Mexico well.