For the first time a woman has won the overall first place in the annual Cocodona 250 ultramarathon.
Rachel Entrekin set a course record at 56 hours, 9 minutes and 48 seconds, shaving two hours off last year’s winning time set by Dan Green.
Entrekin previously won the women’s division during two consecutive years and finished this year 5 miles ahead of the second-place finisher.
Cocodona organizers call her performance one of the most dominant in ultrarunning history.
The Cocodona starts in Black Canyon City and heads north through Prescott and Sedona and then over Mount Elden, before finishing in downtown Flagstaff.
The race began in 2021 and in the years since has become one ultrarunning’s premier events.
Meanwhile, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office says a woman in her 40s died Tuesday while participating in the Cocodona.
Officials say deputies responded to a collapsed runner near the Senator Highway and Groom Creek Trailhead southeast of Prescott just before 5 p.m.
The Groom Creek Fire Department was already on scene attempting life-saving measures. The sheriff’s office says there were no signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
They did not provide the runner’s name or where she was from.
Cocodona organizers decided to continue the race in the runner’s honor and asked that participants and crew carry her memory.
