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Brownsville endurance runner Art Hurtado finished the HURT 100 in Hawaii in 29:56.39, meeting the threshold to submit credentials for this summer’s Badwater 135 in Death Valley, California, and achieving a personal performance goal.
Before the trail run through the sub-tropical rain forest in the mountains above Honolulu, Hurtado, 38, said finishing the five 20-mile laps in anything under 30 hours would be spectacular.
As it turned out, Hurtado’s time was the 20th best among the 75 runners who finished under the 36-hour time limit, according to results posted on the official race website.
Being able to finish healthy in under 30 hours was his biggest accomplishment, Hurtado said Tuesday afternoon by phone from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport as he waited for his flight back to the Rio Grande Valley.
“The last aid station was 2 1/2 miles before the finish line. The aid workers said you have 40 minutes to get to the finish line, so I ran like a bat outta hell to get there,” he said.
Hurtado had a support team of one. Greg Suhrman, a friend from Dallas, met him after each lap with supplies and gear, ‘kind of like a pit stop,” he said. Then on the final lap Suhrman ran with Hurtado as a pacer, encouraging him over the final miles.
“On the laps they have aid stations with a lot of volunteers with everything you would need, food and water, it’s your chance to get your nutrition and hydration,” Hurtado said, adding that it was one of the most-organized races he’s ever done.
”I wanted a challenge and that’s what they delivered. The last two laps were pretty difficult. By that point your muscles are really hurting from the steep descents and all your body systems are fighting you but you have to just keep going,” he said.
HURT 100 stands for the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team Trail 100-Mile Endurance Run. This year’s race was re-routed slightly due to a landslide in the mountains north of Honolulu. The cumulative elevation gain and loss was 26,750 feet.
Hurtado said he will take a few weeks off before getting back into training.
“Generally my recovery is getting better and better with each race. Despite how difficult this race is, I think I feel the best I’ve come out of any 100 I’ve come out of so far, so that’s a sign I’m progressing as an athlete and as a runner. But it’s still gonna be a few weeks of taking a break and easing back into exercising again just to play it safe because I want to play it safe and not risk an injury over the long term,” he said.
Hurtado, a surfer who also runs the beach patrols on South Padre Island, said the surf in Texas doesn’t compare to Hawaii. He checked out Waikiki beach and the north shore where the big surf is legendary.
“I did get to go swim a little bit. As a surfer I wanted to check it out,” he said. “The surf was really good, especially compared to Texas. We have small surf. It was gorgeous to see the blue waters and the clean waves that go on for a long time.”
Hurtado said he will submit an application for the Badwater 135, “but that’s very up to chance because there’s a lot of people submitting.” He has some other races in mind near term, such as the Bryce Canyon Ultra in Utah, a 100-mile race in May.
“I also have a 50-mile race for fun in April, the Brazos Bend 50 that’s at Brazos State Park south of Houston,” he said.
Long term he plans to eventually run in the 240-mile Mohab 240 in Mohab, Utah.
In the HURT 100, Hurtado ran about 15 minutes behind Candice Burt, one of the Mohab 240 founders and the world record holder for consecutive ultra marathons with 200 in a row.
“She passed me on the last lap,” he said.
