This is going to be a barn-burner of a race. The 6th annual Cocodona 250 start goes off on Monday, May 3’d at 5am Arizona-time. It begins just north of Phoenix at Black Canyon Ranch, traverses the rugged Bradshaw Mountain Range, dips into Prescott, across Fain Ranch, up to Mingus Mountain, to the artist town of Jerome all the way to the red rocks of Sedona and up onto the Coconino Plateau before ascending and descending Mt. Elden and finishing in downtown Flagstaff at Heritage Square.
It’s a curated trail-tour of some of Arizona’s most beautiful landscapes, like Sedona and the Bradshaw’s as well as some of it’s old mining history that can be found on Whiskey Row in Prescott and European-styled architecture of Jerome.
The starting list is a who’s who of ultrarunning and there are going to be some showdowns. The women’s field is stacked. You have Courtney Dauwalter, the ultrarunning GOAT who went out hot at last year’s Cocodona, in a blistering, record-setting pace, only to DNF the race at Mt. Mingus aid-station due to what we believe was hypothermia. It was an uncharacteristically wet, stormy, muddy and even snow-drizzled year. Dauwalter is arguably the greatest or one of the greatest female ultrarunners of all-time and while DNF’s do happen to all runners, I think it’s unlikely that we’re going to see a 2nd one. She’s coming hot off a win at the Chianti 100 and her own personal best at a road marathon that she ran in her home state of Minnesota this past fall.
We have Rachel Entrekin, who is going for a three-peat at Cocodona. She has won the last two years, as well as winning a slew of races including the Mammoth 200 and finishing 2nd to Dauwalter at the Chianti 100 less than a month ago. The two women are gamers and while they are fierce competitors, they have a laid-back look, always smiling and giving off the impression that they’re just they’re for the vibes. Don’t let that fool you. Either one of these women could win the entire Cocodona 250. And we’re just scratching the very thick surface of the women’s field.
There is also Mika Thewes, one of the most winning 200+mile ultrarunners. She’s a 200+mile specialist that has podiumed twice at Cocodona. In 2024 she took a terrible fall, thought she broke her jaw, dropped out of the race, found a hotel to sleep in for 24 hours and then jumped back into the race and ended up still coming in 3d place. The field has the ultrarunner and influencer, Sally McRae, whose feet were famously torn up at Cocodona in 2023. McRae managed to finish 4th in that race, despite having ulcer-sized holes in her heels. The retired, pro-triathlete, turned ultrarunner and gravel cyclist, Heather Jackson, will tow the line. She’s one tough and gritty runner with a storied history of wins in almost every endurance sport. There is also Meg Eckert, who set the record for the most miles run at one time. I believe it was 603 miles! She’s no joke and then there’s Lindsay Dwyer who has been on the Cocodona podium before and throwing down some huge training weeks. These do not even take into account the dark horses and there are so many. My top 3 picks? Courtney for the win. Rachel for 2nd and Mika for 3d. Could I be wrong? Absolutely, but I think that homecourt advantage goes a long way in a 250-mie race that has as diverse terrain as the Cocodona 250. I think Rachel, having run it twice and won it twice has a huge advantage, but Courtney has run the first 110 miles in an unbelievable pace, but during a hailstorm in her classic basketball-styled shorts and a jersey. I will never bet against the GOAT but I think it’s going to be a fantastic race among the women’s top 2 and certainly the top 10.
On the men’s side we have a deep field as well, not quite as stout as the women’s. But we have several returning CocoLoco champions like Mike McKnight, who loves raw milk, meat, Jesus, and racing 200’s. McKnight has won more 200+mile races than anyone else in the history of the sport. He’s just coming off a course record win of the Arizona Monster 300. There’s also Joe McConaughy, “String Bean,” and Prescott native Michael Versteeg each of whom have worn the Cocodona crown. Never, ever rule out Jeff Browning, aka, Bronco Billy, who famously led the 2024 race for more than a 150-miles only to be surpassed by Harry Subertas in the final few miles as Browning’s lungs filled with fluid and he was forced to walk it in for 2nd place at Heritage Square. If you haven’t already, watch the film, The Chase, which chronicles the 2024 Cocodona men’s race. Fantastic film and that was the year I ran the race as well! Sadly, I was not featured in the film but I still give it 5 stars!
We have Killian Korth, who is coming off a Triple Crown sweet—where he won all 3 Destination Trails 200+mile races in course record time including the Bigfoot 200, the Tahoe 200 and the Moab 240. Korth has had 3 rough Cocodona races where things went south on him and he’s hoping for redemption this year. Speaking of redemption, there’s the King of Moab, Max Jolliffe, the sober skateboarder-turned ultrarunner. Tatted from head-to-toe this guy won Moab 240 in 2024 and then had a phenomenal Cocodona until he started having multiple medical problems last year and had to be taken off the course and rushed to the hospital just miles from the finish. He was recently on Rich Roll’s podcast talking about Cocodona, running, sobriety, social media and Satisfy— one of his sponsors. Great listen.
I think one of the dark horses, who is not that dark, is Jeff Garmire, who has come in the Top 10 every single year since Cocodona began. He just set the self-supported FKT (Fastest Known Time) on the Appalachian Trail, did one “fun-run” at the Barklay Marathons in which no one finished and has been doing a training camp in Arizona in preparation for his 6th start line of Cocodona. Jeff is also the host of the Free Outside Podcast, one of my favorites and I think he could have one hell of a year this year. We know it will be entertaining because Garmire always finds a way to make suffering entertaining, while also raising awareness for mental health in teens through his fundraising efforts with the Trevor Project.
Cameron Hanes, the bowhunter, author, podcaster, and longtime ultrarunner, announced on social media less than two weeks ago that he was getting called In from the bullpen by Aravaipa Running, the race company that hosts Cocodona. Hanes, who is good friends with Dauwalter, ran Cocodona last year and came in 19th place overall. He’s 57 years old and does not consider himself an elite ultrarunner, yet the man continues to get faster and stronger and defies all laws of age and gravity. His film, Broken, is a great look inside what the Cocodona 2025 course was like in the hail and the rain and mud. He just ran the Eugene, Oregon marathon averaging 6-minute miles. True to motto, Hanes will keep hammering regardless of how hard it gets. Watch his film on last year’s Cocodona as well.
Adam Kimbell, another veteran ultrarunner with dozens of ultra wins and FKT’s to his name is in the mix as well and he’s run across America, won Badwater 125 and been on a reality TV show where he had to survive alone on an island for 60 days. He’s used to doing hard things. The level of grit and depth of pain all of these athletes have endured impossible to quantify and so humbling and beautiful to watch playout over 250-miles. Then there’s the New York State native, Ryan Clifford, who I have to root for because he’s a fellow Beast Coaster in a sport with a West Coast bias.
I have no clue who is going to win the men’s race. Just because of his recent success with the 200’s I’ll go with Killian Korth for 3d place, Max Jolleif for 2nd place and Jeff Browning for 1st place. I think Garmire could crack the top 3 as could Kimbell and Stringbean and McKnight. So…? It’s anyone’s race!
Other stories that I’ll be following include some friends I’ve made at Cocodona and Bigfoot and the Moab 240 including Navajo ultrarunner Greg Secatero who is going for his 1000-mile belt buckle at Cocodona. He is the first Navajo Nation runner to ever complete the Grand Slam of 200’s (including Cocodona, Tahoe 200, Bigfoot and Moab 240) in a single calendar year. This will be his fifth year running Cocodona. Greg is a detective on the reservation where he lives and has been running since he was a child. You can learn more about him on Christian Barratt’s podcast Back of the Pack Ultra Guy. Great listen!
He has inspired and crewed for and paced Brandan Bowie, a young Navajo Nation runner from Phoenix who is going for his 3’d spin at Cocodona this year. Brendan also completed the Grand Slam of 200’s this year. Andy Glaze, the firefighter who is also an ultrarunning influencer and now author of Smile or You’re Doing it Wrong, will be lining up to try and get his 6th belt-buckle at Cocodona. There were 5 runners who all reached 1250-mile mark but I believe it is only Glaze and Garmire who are still in the running for Cocodona’s last-man standing.
This is a long race and a hard race and runners have 125hours to cover 250-miles. The lead pack could come in just under 60-hours or just over 60-hours but with Cocodona… one never knows. It’s too long of a race, through entirely different weather patterns and landscapes over days. Anything could happen and everything always does. It can all look good on paper and then you start that 11,000ft climb over the rugged Bradshaw Mountains to get to Crown King. That’s only the first test. Next comes Mt. Mingus and then the descent into Jerome and then the Hangover Trail in Sedona and the long stretch of Ponderosa Pines on the plateau and then the final crux which is the tough climb and brutal descent on Mt. Elden before they finish at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. Follow along on the livestream which is on the Mountain Outpost YouTube channel and runs 24-7 until the final finishers make their way to Heritage Square. Ultrarunning legend Andy Jones-Wilkins along with his cohort, Chris Worden, do a fantastic job narrating the race, interviewing key figures and engaging with the live chat which becomes an entire ecosystem unto itself.
It’s going to be an exciting week of running and racing and stories coming out of those old mining towns and Ponderosa Pines in AZ.
–Erin Quinn
More articles on the Cocodona 250 by Erin Quinn
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