One of the few sports shows on television right now that is not a rerun is the show “The Titan Games.” The show features head-to-head physical competitions such as pushing and or pulling a wall, using a sledge hammer to break up a chain, climbing a pole and other physical activities. This year, Margaux Alvarez, formerly of Stevensville, is one of the competitors.
Alvarez graduated from Stevensville High School in 2003. During her time as a Yellowjacket, she competed in volleyball and golf. But, she said, she spent a lot of time in the outdoors, hiking and enjoying the Montana lifestyle.
After graduation, she attended school in Hawaii and found more ways to test her strength. While there, she did outrigger canoe paddling, and found other ways to maintain her physical strength.
In 2008, her sister Kerstin died in a car accident. After that, Alvarez’s life changed. She devoted her time and energy to becoming a fitness coach. She was involved in CrossFit and found an outlet in that as well. The high intensity of CrossFit appealed to her. She said it is a functional fitness and increased her body awareness in getting stronger, more fit, and having more endurance. She went on to compete in the CrossFit games seven times and in 2018, finished first on the “Marathon Row” event.
Alvarez tried out for American Ninja Warrior in 2018 but didn’t get selected to compete in that series. However, the producers of American Ninja Warrior is the same producers for the Titan Games. They contacted her and asked if she would try out for the Titan Games.
She had been increasing her strength workouts to include stones, heavy ‘D’ bells, sledge hammer work, and a lot of pulling, swinging, and climbing walls. She had done a few Spartan races and she felt these activities would make her more competitive in the Titan Games.
Alvarez was one of 30 women who competed for a spot in the televised games for the West Division. She was selected to be one of 18 for the televised games. Last week, she competed in the Mt. Olympus challenge and won. On Monday night, she competed in the West Regional Finals. She conquered Mount Olympus and Kelly Valdez had a close battle for the West Regional championship. The two were neck and neck through the first part of the course but Alvarez pulled ahead in the Cage Crawl. Her determination in the Ball and Chain event and then swinging the hammer to break open the cement that held the key for the victory proved to be the difference. Alvarez will now move on for the Titan Championship.
But there is more to Alvarez than working out all of the time. She and her husband, Alex Cardenas, now live in Las Vegas where they are pursuing another passion, that of winemaking. Using grapes sourced from the area around Paso Robles, California, the couple have built up a business in the California and Las Vegas area. They are hoping to eventually bring their wine to Montana as well. Their label, The G.O.A.T. Wine (Greatest Of All Time) is a red blend wine that is their signature brand. Alvarez felt that the move to Las Vegas would help with increasing the demand for the wine.They also pay homage to Kerstin Alvarez with a red blend wine that features a painting of a purple tree that Kerstin painted. The name of that wine is Kerstin.
Alvarez said she will be coming ‘home’ to Montana the end of July and will be here and in Missoula for a few days. She hopes to see old acquaintances and get into the mountains for a few hikes. She is thankful she is able to combine her passions of fitness and wine into a lifestyle and wants to encourage others to do so as well. The Titan Games are giving her the chance to do that.