New perk: Easily find new routes and hidden gems, upcoming running events, and more near you. Your weekly Local Running Newsletter has everything you need to lace up! Subscribe today.
No course record was safe at the 2025 Cocodona 250.
It started on Wednesday afternoon when Dan Green broke the tape in 58 hours, 47 minutes, and 29 seconds. That’s over an hour faster than the 59:50:55 mark set by Harry Subertas last year, this time on an indisputably harder 256.5-mile course.
Accompanied by his pacer and brother, Fred, and an entourage of crew, friends, and filmers, Green ran into sunny downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, dutifully stopping at the traffic lights per race rules and sipping a Coors Light as he trotted into Heritage Square.
“You’ve gotta have good friends,” Green told Outside Run at the finish. “That’s my biggest takeaway.”
It’s the first race over 100 miles for Green, 28, who works at a running store in Huntington, West Virginia, upending the script of what it takes to excel at ultra-ultramarathons.
Rachel Entrekin landed the one-two punch shortly after nightfall. The 2024 champ defended her title in 63:58:15—demolishing the women’s course record by over seven hours. When she finished (in fourth overall), she was over 30 miles ahead of the second-place woman.
“Now we run back to Phoenix!” Entrekin quipped at the finish line as she wiped tears from her eyes.
Over two and a half days of racing, Entrekin, 33, didn’t lose her momentum or, seemingly, her sense of fun. Despite being locked in a fierce battle with eventual third-place finisher Edher Ramirez (Mexico) until the final miles, she cracked her quintessential dry jokes with the livestream camera operators as well as her pacers and crew until the end.
“I’m retiring after this,” she told Appalachian Trail record-holder Tara Dower at one point.
In the race’s five-year history, she’s the first runner to win it twice.
The 2025 Cocodona 250: Faster and Furiouser
If races like Cocodona signify a clash of the ultrarunning versus thru-hiking titans, this year’s race is a decisive victory for the runners.
Green just missed earning a Golden Ticket into the 2025 Western States 100 with his third-place finish at the Javelina 100 in October. Ryan Sandes (South Africa) took second in 61:22—and lest we forget that he won Western States in 2017.
Green supplemented that speed with monster 160-mile training weeks, an indestructible attitude, and wise racing tactics. He slept for a total of 15 to 20 minutes over the two-and-half days of racing.
View this post on Instagram
While the likes of Subertas and Courtney Dauwalter took the race out blazing hot in the cooler temps that turned to rain, Green bid his time. In fact, it took him a full day and 95 miles before he moved into the top spot with a “Let’s go boys!” to his crew.
Dauwalter would soon succumb to her stomach and the weather, dropping from the race at mile 108. Subertas faded to fifth overall. But Green—pushed for much of the race by Sandes right on his heels—powered on through the rain, snow, hail, clouds, cold, and mud. Lots and lots of mud.
“I’m just having fun out here,” he told the host of a local radio station, who called his pacer, on Wednesday morning. The best part of the race, he said, has been spending time with his crew.
Meanwhile, Entrikin, the defending women’s champion who’s also seen success over 100-mile races and shorter, shaved over eight hours off her time from last year. (For reference, in 2024 she finished in the daylight of Thursday morning.) Rising to the challenge set by Dauwalter over the first half, as well as cooler temps, may have played into her favor.
“I think the women’s field really compelled me to come back,” Entrekin said the day before the race. “It’s not often you get to play basketball with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. And that’s what this year is. So I want to see how I stack up.”
2025 Cocodona 250 Top Results
- Dan Green, 58:47:18 (course record)
- Ryan Sandes, 61:21:04
- Edher Ramirez, 63:10:13
- Rachel Entrekin, 63:58:15 (course record, 1st woman)
- Harry Subertas, 65:28:53
- Finn Melanson, 66:38
- DJ Fox, 69:45
- Cody Poskin, 71:11
- Michael McKnight, 72:00
- Jeff Garmire, 77:41
- Chad Salyer, 78:52
- Michael Puett, 79:21
- Lindsey Dwyer, 79:35:28 (2nd woman)
- Aaron Young, 80:11
- Sarah Osteszewski, 80:25:31 (3rd woman)
Want to learn more about the 2025 Cocodona 250? Head over to our guide to the 2025 Cocodona 250 to learn about everything from the stats, the course, the top contenders and how to watch.
Here’s how the 2025 Cocodona 250 went down, in reverse chronological order:
58 Hours Elapsed: We are Officially on Course Record Watch
Dan Green, who’s led the race for essentially 150 miles, just blew through the final aid station with 3.8 miles to go.
“Blew” is a relative term at mile 253, of course. But he’s running! (Kind of!) After a long, slow slog with poles in hand up and over a misty Mount Elden, the sun is shining and Green is running the flats and hiking the ups on the final stretch of dirt before he reaches the finish line at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff, where a beer is (hopefully) waiting for him.
Green has until 59:50:55 elapsed to set the course record. And yes, this year’s course is longer and harder than ever.
Meanwhile Rachel Entrikin has extended her lead in the women’s race to a staggering 30 miles.
“Every time we update her on that, she’s still in disbelief,” her crew said on the livestream.
She’s also doing battle with Edher Ramirez for an overall podium spot.
53 Hours Elapsed: “What Are We Waiting Around For?”
Race leader Dan Green has been running for over two full days, and he still wants more.
“Alright, what are we waiting around for?” Green quipped as he left his final crewed aid station at mile 237.7. He took only a few minutes to down pancakes and Coke, lather up with sunscreen and anti-chafe product, and throw on some new shoes. With “only” 18 miles left to the finish and still well ahead of course record pace, the West Virginian picked up his brother Fred as a pacer for the final 2,000 foot climb up Elden Mountain. But as if the difficult ascent wasn’t enough, Green set his own challenge: “I’m gonna drop him.”
Twenty-three miles back at the Fort Tuthill aid station (mile 214.7), the rest of the men’s podium and women’s leader Rachel Entrekin took time to refuel and rest up throughout the morning of day three. Ryan Sandes (South Africa) is steady in second place after a quick nap in the back of his crew vehicle, while Edher Ramirez (Mexico) took over third. Ramirez, whose two young children are helping out crewing, and Entrekin, who burst into tears seeing her parents waiting for her along the trail, both looked rejuvenated after some family time as they head out on the final miles of the course.
44 Hours Elapsed: Mud, Mud, and More Mud
More chilly rain made for a muddy, slippery climb out of Sedona on the second night of the race.
The top runners have ascended onto the Coconino Plateau as the course approaches Flagstaff. After a quick nap in Sedona, 2024 winner Rachel Entrekin continues to put on a clinic as she makes her way through night two as the first woman and third overall. Second place woman Lindsey Dwyer is 30 miles behind, with Sarah Ostaszewski rounding out the women’s podium another nine miles back.
On the men’s side, Dan Green came into the Munds Park aid station (mile 193.7) with muddy shoes but good spirits, having widened the gap over second-place Ryan Sandes. He remains hours ahead of course record pace as he passes mile 200. Sandes took a ten minute nap before throwing on an extra layer and heading back out into the brisk night.
35 Hours Elapsed: Dan Green and Ryan Sandes Are Neck-and-Neck
The newcomer is facing off with the veteran.
28-year-old Dan Green came into the Sedona Posse Grounds aid station at mile 162 in the lead, sitting down to check in with his crew. Barely three minutes later, 43-year-old Ryan Sandes ran by, meeting up with his crew a few feet away. The two glanced over at each other as their crews helped feed them, change their shoes, and prepare them for the big climb up out of Sedona.
Green left first, but Sandes wasn’t far behind, keeping the pressure on and the gap small. Green is relatively new to the scene, with a third place finish at the Javelina Jundred last fall adding to a resume of mostly races near home in West Virginia. Sandes, on the other hand, is a decorated veteran with a Western States win under his belt from 2017.
Anything can happen in 90 miles, so it’s still anyone’s race.
30 Hours Elapsed: “Yeah, I’m winning!”
“How did everyone know but me?”
Rachel Entrekin didn’t know she was the new woman’s leader, and third overall, until a live stream videographer broke the news to her.
“Yeah, I’m winning!” she proclaimed as she stopped at the Dead Horse aid station at mile 134.1.
Entrekin is about six miles behind overall race leader Dan Green, who was looking refreshed after he says he slept for 40 minutes overnight. Ryan Sandes currently sits in second in between them, and was all business at the aid station as he continues to hunt down the lead. Michael Versteeg and DJ Fox round out the top five as the race leaders begin the back half of the course.
26:30 Hours Elapsed: Courtney is Out
Courtney Dauwalter has dropped out of the race at the Mingus Mountain aid station, mile 108. “She’s doing fine and very thankful for all the cheers both in person and from afar,” her team announced via Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
Dauwalter crossed 100 miles in second place, having picked up a new pacer at mile 96. But climbing up to Mingus, she had to contend with muddy, wet, cold conditions, as steady rain continued for hours and temperatures dropped into the 30s.
Dan Green continues to lead the race coming out of Dead Horse State Park, mile 134, with Rachel Entrekin just behind as the first woman and third overall.
24 Hours Elapsed: A New Day, A New Leaderboard
There are no guarantees at Cocodona. As steady rain turned trails into mud and temperatures dropped into the 30s, we saw yet another lead change. Just before mile 100, West Virginia’s Dan Green took over the top spot, letting out an energetic “Let’s go boys!” as he joined his crew at the Fain Ranch aid station, mile 95.9. Green opted for a quick stop, changing out his mud-coated shoes before continuing up and over Mingus Mountain, the highest point on the course until the final climb up Mount Elden.
Entering day two of the race, Green has a solid lead over Ryan Sandes, Rachel Entrekin (the 2024 champion and new top woman), and Michael Versteeg, who are descending down into the Verde Valley separated by less than four miles. Courtney Dauwalter appears to have stopped to sleep at the Mingus Mountain aid station, mile 108.3, dropping into seventh overall and second woman.
14 Hours Elapsed: Courtney Takes The Lead
And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Courtney Dauwalter is the overall leader of the Cocodona 250.
Dauwalter was all smiles coming into the Whiskey Row aid station at mile 77.3, taking time to high five fans holding signs along the way. After running through a tunnel of fans to the aid station in the city center of Prescott, she was in and out in a matter of minutes, running her way into the first night hours ahead of course record pace.
About 10 minutes later, the leader of the men’s race, Dan Green, came through, downing ramen noodles and coordinating the night shift with his crew.
11:30 Hours Elapsed: It’s Tight at the Top
A quarter of the way into this mega race and just four miles separate the top seven.
Defending champion Rachel Entrekin currently sits as the second place woman and fifth overall coming into the Camp Kipa aid station at mile 62.3. She sits smack in the middle of a chase group featuring four men—Canada’s Pau Rius, the U.K.’s Jack Scott, West Virginia’s Dan Green, and South Africa’s Ryan Sandes.
Who are they chasing? Top contenders Courtney Dauwalter and Harry Subertas, who continue to knock out miles as though they don’t know how long this race is. Speed demon Subertas is racing down the descent into Prescott, while Dauwalter is rapidly gaining ground and closing the gap. Currently, the two leaders are running less than a mile apart.
7 Hours Elapsed: Subertas Continues to Charge Ahead of Tight Chase Pack
Just after 12 P.M. on Monday, Harry Subertas’ crew was waiting for him at the turn-off to the Crown King Aid Station at mile 36.6. But they could barely keep up as they made their way to their truck, with the race leader running a pace seemingly more fit for a 5K than a 250-miler. The 2024 champ came into the aid station at 6 hours and 11 minutes and was in good spirits as he made a quick pit stop for watermelon and a gear change.
Nearly 30 minutes passed before the next runner appeared, the U.K.’s Jack Scott, followed shortly by Dan Green of West Virginia and leading woman Courtney Dauwalter (6:44 elapsed). After a speedy stop, Dauwalter picked up a place, moving up into third overall out of the aid station.
As clouds, scattered rain, and even some snow continue to move through, most runners echoed the sentiment of last year’s sixth place finisher Jeff Garmire: “We’re on really good pace.”
4 Hours Elapsed: Reigning Champ Harry Subertas Leads Men’s Race, Courtney Dauwalter Top Woman
It’s 9 A.M. on Monday, four hours into the 2025 Cocodona 250, and this race is out fast. Course record holder and 2024 winner Harry Subertas leads the field, 23.4 miles in and averaging a blistering 7:30 minute-per-mile pace. Keep that up and he’ll be done in less than 43 hours. Keep in mind, his course record time from last year is 59 hours, 50 minutes, and 55 seconds, so expect things to slow down as the hours (and vert) tick up.
On the women’s side, Courtney Dauwalter is in the lead after some back-and-forth with 2024 women’s champ Rachel Entrekin. It’s a tight race so far at the top, with Dauwalter in fifth overall. For the next 100 or so miles runners will stay above 5,000 feet, enjoying cooler temperatures and partly cloudy skies.
May 5 at 5:00 A.M.: The 2025 Cocodona 250 Has Begun
And they’re off.
Amidst heavy cheers of crew and spectators, a gaggle of runners passed under the start banner proclaiming, “adventure awaits.”
Adventure indeed—the first 30 miles of the course are almost all uphill, a suitable warmup for the 226 miles to follow. Scattered showers are in the forecast later today, with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.
“If there’s a year to go fast, this is it,” 2021 champ Michael Versteeg said. We’ll see who follows that mantra over the beginning of this course.