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• 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

• Almaden triathlon goes international - Virl Norton will tell you he runs about as fast and reckless as anybody. ''That's obvious," the 69-year-old Almaden Valley cowboy and endurance rider said last week after his team's second consecutive win at the Almaden Triathlon Ch... read more

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