Articles on this page are reprinted with permission from various publications. Go to the links page for more info about the contributors.

• Video: Virl at the Horsemen's Association 1990 - 10 minutes of Virl chatting with admirers at the Horsemen's Association, Summer 1990.... read more

• Video: Virl at the 1989 Almaden Triathlon - 3-minutes of Virl at the 1989 Almaden Triathlon.... read more

• Virl Norton wins The Great American Horse Race - Ahead of all the rest in undisputed first place ran Virl O. Norton, "The Mule Man." His one crew man was his son Pierce, "The Mule Boy". Only three other entrants ever made legitimate attempts for the lead, and they were outlasted and outr... read more

• Virl Norton, 78, retired steeplejack raised horses in Almaden - At 60, Virl Norton, steeplejack, didn't have to prove to anyone that he was "tough as a boiled owl" -- his phrase. But in 1976, the bicentennial year for the United States, he entered the Great America Cross-Country Horse Race to prove it anyw... read more

• It's a rough ride to fitness - For a career rancher, cowboy, endurance racer and steeplejack like Virl Norton, the question of how to stay fit has never come up. ''You're never going to find me inside, sitting in a chair," says the popular 71-year-old Almaden Valley... read more

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