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Brownsville ultra runner Art Hurtado finished eighth in the Cowboy 200, running halfway across the state of Nebraska in 54:18.23 the weekend of Sept. 25-27.
The race follows the old-rail Cowboy Trail through 200 miles of Nebraska back-country from Norfolk to Valentine. The route is extraordinarily flat, full of crushed limestone trails, and winds past legacy railroad infrastructure and across awe-inspiring former railroad bridges, the race website by sponsor Ultraverse supplements says.
Much of the route is closed off to motor vehicle traffic, although Hurtado retraced some of his steps on the drive back to Omaha after the race. It was his first 200-mile race.
“I basically slept two hours over three days. It does take a toll, but the training did pay off. I don’t feel completely debilitated. I feel the general fatigue and soreness from losing that kind of sleep and moving that long. All in all, I don’t feel like I’ve been injured … I’m not wrecked,” Hurtado said Friday.
“I’ll slowly recoup over the next couple of weeks. I mean, It hasn’t even been a week since I finished and I’m already back to work and getting normal routines in,” said Hurtado, who also runs the lifeguards at Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island.
Hurtado took a crew of five with him: Josh Meier and Greg Fuhrman, Liz and Eric Castillo from Los Rukos Barbell Club, and Mariana Morales. He gave the crew much of the credit for his finish.
“A big part of all this besides the resource management of my sleep and all that was my team, the crew, Josh and Mariana, Eric and Liz, they were fantastic. They were the ones that helped get me through this as smoothly as possible, even when the wheels fell off. I cannot thank them enough,” he said.
“It’s extremely important. It takes a tribe. I’m the one doing the running and all that, … but they’re allowed to run with me for company or for spirit lifting, or just to keep you on pace, that’s what a pacer is. (Mariana) ran with me for the first 22 miles, and then Josh ran with me in various segments including the last 25 miles to the finish,” Hurtado said.
“They’re taking on a hefty amount of running themselves, with whatever sleep deprivation they have from chasing me around here and there,” he said.
Race rules only allow crew members to meet runners at designated aid stations. Additionally, because it’s a two-day race, runners are allowed to sleep, with bunks provided at aid stations interspersed along the route.
Hurtado said at one of the aid stations, the fire alarm went off just as he was getting to sleep. He couldn’t get back to sleep, so he got up and started running again.
His crew having left ahead of him, Hurtado had an Air BNB in Ainsworth, near the end of the race. He was surprised that the route to the airport in Omaha followed the trail for the most part. It gave him perspective on how much ground he had covered.
By now, Hurtado considers himself a professional ultra marathon runner. He said he has a 200-miler near Dallas penciled in for next year.