The clay display piece Jose Alvarez took home for running 150 miles in Cotter. Photo courtesy of Jose Alvarez.

Days after running an Ultra Marathon at the Arkansas Backyard Ultra Championship in the small town of Cotter near Mountain Home, Jose Alvarez of Fulton said, “My whole body is damaged. Steps are one of your worst enemies right now,”

This is because on May 21 Alvarez ran for 150 miles, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Alabama’s Monica Showers who covered a distance of 154.14 miles. Alvarez said, “We went, toe to toe for 10 hours until finally--I had already told myself that at 36 yards, which is 36 hours, I was going to drop. I wanted to get the win. I just didn't have it in me, I guess. But yes, she was determined, and she got it.”

Alvarez and Monica Showers of Alabama run another lap in Cotter. Photo courtesy of Alvarez.

In backyard ultra-marathons, a yard is a run around a dirt track for a total of 4.14 miles. Contestants have an hour in which to run that distance. If they complete the yard in under the hour, they can use the remainder of the time to rest. Once Alvarez dropped out, Showers needed to run one more yard to claim victory. There is a photo of the moment Alvarez decided to end his quest in which he stands drenched in sweat next to a digital reading of his time.

Alvarez drops from the race as Monica Showers looks on. Photo courtesy of Jose Alvarez.

“That was it right there. And that's when I knew it was game over for me. And she had to go out and do one more loop to win it.”

This Showers did. But Alvarez is still gratified to have finished with so many miles, having bested the winning male competitor in last year’s championship by 38.5 miles and won a clay memento from the event with his stats listed on the back. And in just over two weeks, he will be trying again, this time in Sunset, Texas near Denton at the surely aptly named Achilles Hill event.

Photo courtesy of Jose Alvarez.

Most of his previous races have been for specified lengths. But he has been training for longer distances. He caught the running bug, he said, in 2020, during the height of the COVID cancellations. One of his runs that year, in October, was for The Call of Hempstead/Nevada Counties, an organization that helps support foster families. He ran 100 miles in and around Hope in 24 hours.

Alvarez, 32, believes he has plenty more races to run, because of his relative youth and also because he wishes to set a good example for his three children Andres, Andrea and Andrey: “They actually run, too.  My son runs, my daughter runs and my little my two-year-old, he's about to be three, he runs, too.”

Alvarez with his three children, who also run. Photo coutesy of Jose Alvarez.

His job as worker for a pecan and hay farm keeps him fit for future ultra marathons, and his employer and family support his pursuits. But Alvarez was also clear on what his co-workers think of what he does, “They think I’m crazy. They say, ‘How do you do that?’”

The 72 contestants who ran in the Arkansas Backyard Ultra Championship May 21. Photo courtesy of Jose Alvarez.