[3][4] True's inclusion in the book garnered him some attention in ultrarunning circles, and some readers credited him as their inspiration for taking up the sport.

Micah True was born Michael Randall Hickman in Oakland, California, the son of a Korean War Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant[1] and the second of four children.

[1] To earn money he began prizefighting in informal boxing bouts, using the name "Gypsy Cowboy," and perhaps taking the occasional dive for an easy payday.

[1] For almost 20 years, he spent winters running in Mexico, Guatemala, and Central America, averaging 170 miles (270 km) per week.

[9] After initially reaching out on the internet, he wrote an article in Men's Health, elucidating many of the lessons he internalized from the Tarahumara people.

In addition to prize money for the top ten finishers, the event awards seed corn vouchers to all runners who complete the distance.

The race has its start and finish in the town square of Urique, Chihuahua, Mexico, covering an estimated 50 miles (80 km) of single track trail and dirt road.

[A] [1] The book told the story of the Copper Canyons ultra marathon and the Tarahumara, while promoting the endurance running hypothesis, arguing that humans left the forests and moved to the savannas by developing the ability to run long distances in order to hunt prey by simply outlasting them in a long chase.

[24][25] Searchers included ultra-runners such as Scott Jurek, Kyle Skaggs, Timothy Olson, and many athletes and friends who had participated in the 51 mile Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon.

[8][27] The local sheriff said there were "no obvious signs of trauma",[28] although True had scrapes and abrasions on his hands, arms, and knees, suggesting a fall.

"[29] However, Dr. James O'Keefe Jr., the director of Preventative Cardiology Fellowship Program and the Director of Preventative Cardiology at Cardiovascular Consultants at the Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, a large cardiology practice in Kansas City, looked at the pathology report and believes that Micah True's enlarged thickened heart with scar tissue is a pathology some extreme endurance athletes develop termed Phidippides cardiomyopathy by Peter A. McCullough in research conducted with Justin E.

[30][31] According to McCullough and Trivax's hypothesis,[32] "this pathology occurs because endurance sports call for a sustained increase in cardiac output for several hours" which puts the heart "into a state of volume overload.

[34] Due to True's role in the organization and production of the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon, after his death the continuation of the event was placed in doubt.