Erin Quinn

The Coco Queen, Rachel Entrekin, rewrites the History Books becoming the first woman to win the Cocodona 250 for the 3d time and this year, to win the overall title and set a course record for men and woman!

The front of the pack is rolling into Flagstaff in historical fashion. We have Rachel Entrekin, now the 3-time CocoQueen, who not only secured a threepeat, but won the race overall this year, with a new course record for men and women—a historical moment for the sport of ultrarunning. She had the women’s lead for most of the race and then the overall lead for the last 100-miles which she continued to open up. For viewers on the livestream or who were following the race on social media or news outlets, it was exhilarating watching Entrekin literally fly across the red rocks of Sedona, on no more than three, 5–7-minute power-naps on a dirt trail. She covered 253-miles, on foot, with 38,000ft of elevation and all kinds of terrain in 56 hours, crushing her previous record by more than 7 hours.  The Birmingham, Alabama-native, who now lives in trains in Conifer, Colorado, also crushed the overall course record— 58: 47—set by Dan Green last year (also from the east coast.) by two hours. While no one can know what it felt like to grind out mile after mile on steep and rugged terrain, including the Hangover Trail in Sedona, every video or photograph of Entrekin showed her smiling the entire time. Women all over the running and ultrarunning space were celebrating Entrekin’s overall 1^st place, noting that the gender differences really begin to blur the further endurance athletes go.

Entrekin was followed (not all that closely) by Killian Korth, who was the first male (M1) and 2^nd place over all in a time of Courtney Dauwalter, arguably the greatest female ultrarunner of all time, finished in 6^th place overall and 2^nd place female. After settling in behind Heather Jackson (F5) for much of the race, Dauwalter, surpassed the professional triathlete, gravel cyclist and ultrarunner and began to pick off runners in the top 10 until she made her way to Flagstaff crossing the line in Courtney fashion, thanking the crowd for being there. All three women beat the previous year’s course record set by Entrekin. The crowd at Heritage Square sounded like the ball had just dropped in Times Square when Entrekin rounded that final corner. There was an explosion of cheering and emotion as they watched this ultrarunner become only the 2^nd woman to ever win, outright a 200+mile race. Korth struggled with hamstring issues and some rough patches, which are very typical for any ultramarathon, especially one that lasts for days and nights and covers half the state of Arizona. But he still managed to claim M1 comfortably and get under Green’s record from last year, crossing the finish line in a time of 57:28. Korth is coming off a big year, having won the Triple Crown of 200’s, where he set new course records at the Tahoe 200, the Bigfoot 200 and the Moab 240. He has struggled at Cocodona before, having to DNF due to injury and illness, and has had one finish. Anything can go wrong in an ultramarathon and the further you go, the more chances there are for things to go south, but save for a few falls, a bum leg and the innate hardships of a 253-mile race, Korth executed his run flawlessly.

1. Rachel Entrekin 1^st place overall & F1
2. Courtney Dauwalter F2 and 6^th place overall
3. Meg Eckert F3 8^th place overall
4. Lindsey Dwyer F4 13^th place overall
5. Heather Jackson F5 15^th place overall

Men’s Race:

1. Killian Korth M1 and 2^nd place overall
2. Cody Poskin M2 and 3d place overall
3. DJ Fox M3 and 4^th place overall
4. Joe “Stringbean” McConaghy M4 and 5^th place overall
5. Jakob Aberg M5 7^th place overall

While the top runners are likely soaking in a tub somewhere, sleeping in a crew vehicle or possibly a hotel bed, there are still a lot of runners out on the course. They have 125 hours to finish, or to be exact, Saturday, May 9^th at 10am local time.