Erin Quinn

Jeff Garmire, host of The Free Outside Podcast, has crossed the finish line at Heritage Square in dowtown Flagstaff, AZ to become the first 5x finisher of the Cocodona 250. Not only is this race an enormous accomplishment to complete once, but Garmire has now done it every year since its inaugural year in 2021. He’s been 5th or 6th in all previous years and this time around came in 9th in a deeply contested field on the men’s side. He crossed in just over 77 hours, noting that maybe living in Montana helped him handle the cooler temps and rain a bit better than some of his desert-dwelling competitors who suffered from the cold this year.

That’s 1,250-miles of racing across Arizona from Black Canyon City to Flagstaff during extreme heat, wind, rain, snow and this year? Tons of mud. These races, as Garmire will tell you, induce hallucinations, include battling extreme fatigue, blisters, chaffing, nauseous, all the while trying to climb 40,000ft worth of steep piles of rocks and technical trails. He said he slept a few hours this time around due to a rough start on night one but once he got his groove back, Garmire did not back off.

Originally a thru-hiker, Garmire, who had only done one 50K, decided on a whim to jump into the Cocodona inaugural race in 2021. He had no plan, no crew, no pacers but a lot of experience being out in the mountains by himself and moving at a quick clip. He has set numerous Fastest Known Times (FKT’s) including one on the John Muir Trail, one on the Arizona Trail and the Colorado Trail. He also completed an unsupported Triple Crown. in one calendar year and made a film and wrote a book about his adventures, The Free Outside. The Triple Crown is when hikes all 3 of the major contiguous trails in the US including the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Coast Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, which combined total close to 8,000 miles.

While there is a definite crossover between thru-hiking and ultrarunning (yes, everyone hikes in ultramarathons, particularly those that are 250-miles long) there was and has been a steep learning curve to get himself up to ultrarunning speed. He’s now an endurance coach a race director in Montana and currently probably kicking his feet up in Flagstaff after 77 hours of grueling foot work in the desert mountains and valleys of Arizona.

To learn more about his podcast go to this previous article

There are a total of 5 people who have finished the previous 4 Cocodona 250 races. . These include Garmire, Andrew Glaze (the firefighter and ultrarunning influencer) Wes Plate (an ultramarathon race director and documentary filmmaker,) Jose Cosas and Aaron Fleisher. They received a surprise 1000-mile belt buckle from Jamil Coury, the owner of Aravaipa Running and visionary behind the Cocodona 250, celebrating and their achievement. It’s unclear what the boys will get for finishing their 5th rodeo in Arizona but 4 of them are still out on the course, making their way towards Flagstaff.

Glaze actually has teamed up with Fleisher in the same spot that they ran together year one, just outside of Fort Tuthill at mile approximately mile 200.

Keep on keeping on gentlemen. Flagstaff is calling your name!