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Brownsville ultra runner Art Hurtado will stretch out this weekend to a distance most people would regard as unthinkable: 200 miles across half the state of Nebraska.
Hurtado has been running ultra marathons, defined in the running community as any foot race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometers, since the COVID pandemic days of 2021, competing in his first 100-mile race in February 2021.
Last summer, he ran in the two-mile high “Race Across the Sky,” in Leadville, Colorado. That race runs over Hope Pass in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, reaching a peak elevation of 12,600 feet. Runners depart from the highest incorporated town in the U.S. in an out-and-back loop through famously rocky terrain.
This Friday through Sunday Hurtado will contest the Cowboy 200 through the Nebraska back-country. The race is a point-to-point ultra marathon that follows the Cowboy Trail from Norfolk to Valentine, Nebraska, on crushed limestone and across a picturesque abandoned railroad corridor that stretches halfway across the state.
The course is closed off to motor vehicles and passes through history-filled towns still utilizing buildings and artifacts from the old railroad. The trail crosses more than 200 bridges, the highest a quarter-mile long and 148 feet high, race sponsor Ultraverse supplements says on a website about the race.
Besides running in ultra marathons, Hurtado heads the Cameron County Beach Patrol on South Padre Island. He continues to integrate strength training at Hardknox Gym as well as ocean swimming and lifeguard workouts as part of a daily routine that allows him to stay race ready.
On a normal weekend Hurtado wakes up at 1 or 2 a.m. to run 20 to 40 miles each Saturday and Sunday before work, he said via text on Monday.
In an interview last week he said a 200-mile race is a much larger undertaking than a 100-mile race due to logistics.
“I’m taking a lot of food and fuel for this race. In 100 miles, I’ll burn close to 14,000 calories, which is a week’s worth of food for a person, so you can imagine what I’ll need for double that distance,” he said.
Hurtado said he’s checked with other runners and right now he holds the record for 50 miles, 100 miles and the 100K distance among Rio Grande Valley runners.
He said ultra marathon distances are becoming more popular. He entered the Cowboy 200 in October and the race sold out right after that. He’s taking two crews with him. “My friends Josh Meier and Greg Fuhrman will be in the first group helping me, and then the next day will be my friends from Los Rukos Barbell Club, one of my sponsors, Liz and Eric Castillo and then Mariana Mireles will be travelling with them,” he said.
“It’s basically a controlled slow run jog. It requires a lot of discipline not to go fast when you feel good because it’s going to catch up with you later on. It’s a matter of pacing yourself because it’s so flat you can go pretty fast. So, I have to be basically walking from the beginning and make sure I stay steady by both pace and effort because at some point the effort is going to outweigh the easy paces and I have to manage that stress as well.” he said.
Brownsville will host its own ultra marathon Thanksgiving weekend at Monte Bella Park on Alton Gloor Boulevard, a 50K race and reportedly the only official ultra marathon in the Valley currently, Hurtado said.
He said the hardest part of the Cowboy 200 other than the training has been the cost, adding that he’s had a lot of support from family, friends and local sponsors including RAV racing and Humphrey Thomas.
“I’ve been running more mileage than I ever have in my life to get ready for this race, but there’s no guarantee. The honest fact is I don’t know what’s going to happen in those later miles. But it’s exciting. I remember when I did my first 100-mile race. I didn’t know what was going to happen and I just went for it anyways. I mean I’m going to finish or I’m not. There’s only one way to find out about it. … I’m going to give it my best chance. I don’t feel nervous about it. I’m excited, not nervous and just happy to represent the Valley again, and Brownsville,” he said.