When a late spring storm rolled through central Arizona on the morning of Monday, May 5, runners who’d just started the 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile were pummeled with rain and hail as they made their way north from Back Canyon City, Arizona, to the Crown King aid station, some 36 miles into the race. The early weather set the stage for what would be an unseasonably cold, wet, and muddy running of the five-year-old event, and in the end, it was Dan Green and Rachel Entrekin, repeating her win from 2024, who emerged victorious with times of 58:47:18 and 63:50:55, respectively, both course records.
Starting at 5 a.m. local time, runners faced the 256-mile journey between Black Canyon City and Flagstaff with about 40,000 feet of elevation gain and 35,000 feet of descending. They had until 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 — a 125-hour time limit — to make it to the finish line and would visit the towns of Prescott, Cottonwood, and Sedona en route. They would also traverse the rugged Bradshaw Mountains, the unrelenting Mingus Mountain, the famed red rock vortex of Sedona — including the exposed Hangover Trail — and end with a climb up to Elden Mountain before descending to the downtown Flagstaff finish line.
Dan Green ran a smart and consistent race to travel from Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, Arizona, faster than anyone else and win the 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile. All photos: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
The incessant rain that settled over the event for much of the time seemed unusual weather for those who imagine Arizona to be arid, dry, and always hot. But spring storms happen, and Arizona dirt often turns to sticky peanut butter mud when wet. In the race’s early miles, runners who’d been diligently doing their sauna training to prepare for the heat were instead faced with freezing temperatures, hail, and fog along what was historically the hottest and most exposed part of the course. This was then followed by mud and more rain on the climb over Mingus Mountain and down into Jerome, which was then followed by more rain until the storm finally cleared, after nearly two days, giving everyone a bit of relief.
With returning champions Harry Subertas (Lithuania, lives in the U.S.) and Entrekin both back on the start line alongside many others who had plans of running at the pointy end of the race, both fields looked to put on a good show. On the women’s side, Mika Thewes, last year’s third-place woman, was back, and Courtney Dauwalter was also lining up for her first 200-plus-mile race since winning the 2018 Tahoe 200 Mile. Georgia Porter, who has the women’s fastest known time on the 817-mile Arizona Trail, was also trying her luck. On the men’s side, Subertas was joined by Green, who finished the Javelina 100 Mile in the top five in both 2023 and 2024, Ryan Sandes (South Africa) who has finished highly in competitive international races up to 100 miles long plus several pretty adventurous multiday runs in rough terrain, and last year’s fifth-pace finisher and winner of the inaugural race in 2021, Michael Versteeg.
Read on to see how both races unfolded.
The 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile women’s winner Rachel Entrekin got into it with the weather in the early miles of the race.
2025 Cocodona 250 Mile Men’s Race
Starting in Black Canyon City, the 256-ish route heads out through the iconic saguaro cacti of the Sonoran Desert. Racers started under clear skies and weren’t required to carry rain jackets until the Crown King aid station, 36 miles in. The first 40 miles of the course takes in about 10,000 feet of climbing.
Last year’s champion and course-record holder, Harry Subertas (Lithuania, lives in the U.S.), took the initial lead as he headed from the start line into the Bradshaw Mountains. Pau Rius (Canada) followed in second just a few minutes back, and Jack Scott (U.K.), who set a new course record at the 2024 Winter Spine Race, and Dan Green followed close behind. Michael Versteeg settled into fifth. Ryan Sandes (South Africa) also wasn’t far behind as the leaders made their way to Crown King aid station.
Defending champion Harry Subertas led for the early miles before settling into a more sustainable pace.
While the front of the race mostly escaped the massive deluge in the Crown King area, most of the runners got hit by a storm that brought rain, hail, clouds, and fog — and many didn’t have rain jackets with them. Unfortunately, the weather snarled race logistics, and the first 40 runners reached Crown King before their drop bags did. Flexibility was key, and everyone made the best of incredibly challenging conditions.
When it hails and you don’t have a jacket, an emergency blanket will do just fine.
By the first evening, 12 hours into the race, Subertas had started to pay the price for his fast start. After running a significant distance ahead for many hours, he was overtaken by women’s leader Courtney Dauwalter, as well as Green, as they headed into the Camp Wamatochick aid station at mile 69. Subertas was now running with Sandes.
It’s worth noting that of the top 10 overall through Camp Wamatochick, half would drop from the race.
The run through Prescott’s iconic Whiskey Row at mile 78 is always filled with fanfare and noise, and Green led the men’s field through, followed shortly by Sandes and Subertas. Ruis, Versteeg, and Michael Greer also came through before a bigger gap to the rest of the field as night came for the first time.
Conditions deteriorated as the leaders made their way up to the aid station atop Mingus Mountain at mile 108, one of the course’s most unrelenting climbs, reaching an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet. Little changed in the front of the field as the witching hour came and went, with Green — who was ahead of course record pace — now opening up a couple-mile gap on Sandes, who had a similar gap on Versteeg. With the weather and miles starting to get to be too much for many, DJ Fox and Cody Poskin moved into the top five. Edher Ramirez, who didn’t pick up a tracker until late in the race and made things a little confusing for race fans, followed close behind in sixth. Staying warm and upright in the mud over Mingus became the name of the game.
DJ Fox (right) approaches the Lane Mountain aid station after making it through the hail on day 1.
By midmorning of day 2, little had changed besides the weather — which was now cloudy but dry — as Green continued in the lead through the Dead Horse aid station in Cottonwood at mile 134, with Sandes hot on his tail. Sandes had cut a 75-minute gap to 45 in the span of nine miles in the early morning hours. Running through the relative lowlands after Dead Horse, the gap continued to shrink, and Sandes took the lead from Green out of the Deer Pass aid station at mile 148, and now they both had a sizeable gap on Versteeg in third and the rest of the field.
Through the vortexes of Sedona at mile 162 and up Schnebly Hill leading out of town, the two leaders ran in close proximity with a comfortable gap on everyone else. It seemed that third would be a battle between Versteeg and Fox, until Versteeg dropped in Sedona after what appeared to be a rough night in the mud and rain. Meanwhile, Ramirez passed Poskin and was close on Fox’s tail in fourth.
The course and weather would ultimately get the better of Michael Versteeg, and he would drop in Sedona at mile 162.
It was after climbing back onto the Mogollon Rim and into the high country around mile 173 on the second night that Green finally opened up a gap on Sandes. On the relatively flat terrain into Flagstaff, the gap between the top two grew to several miles. Behind them, Ramirez had finally caught Fox heading out of Sedona, and the two of them ran together for a bit before Ramirez pulled away. Subertas continued to sit in fifth place as he made his way to the high country.
Ryan Sandes, in his first 200-plus-mile effort, finished a strong second.
Dropping into Flagstaff just before daybreak with only 35 miles left to run and cloudy but dry weather, Green had nearly a two-hour gap on Sandes and proceeded to make short work of Walnut Canyon and the climb up the north side of Mount Elden. From the top, which was still spotted with patches of snow from the storm, it was just six miles to the finish with a short and steep drop down the front side of the mountain and a rolling finish on relatively smooth singletrack before the final paved couple of miles into downtown Flagstaff.
Dan Green finished first with a time of 58:47:18, a new course record by just over an hour.
He was followed by Ryan Sandes, who arrived in Flagstaff in 61:21:04, to take second place.
Behind them, Edher Ramirez showed remarkable closing speed in the final stretch to Flagstaff and over Mount Elden to pull himself away from a badly fading DJ Fox to finish third in 63:10:13.
In the end, both Harry Subertas and Finn Melanson, the latter of whom had been quietly making relentless forward progress, also got by Fox and finished in fourth and fifth.
Dan Green on his way to winning the 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile.
2025 Cocodona 250 Mile Men’s Results
- Dan Green – 58:47:18
- Ryan Sandes – 61:21:04
- Edher Ramirez – 63:10:13
- Harry Subertas – 65:28:53
- Finn Melanson – 66:29:40
Tracking and full results.
2025 Cocodona 250 Mile Women’s Race
As with the men’s race, it was last year’s champion, Rachel Entrekin, who led in the initial miles of this year’s event. From the start, she was followed closely by Courtney Dauwalter, the odds-on women’s favorite. Folks even whispered that she had the potential to win the race overall. So when Dauwalter took the overall race lead just before Camp Wamatochick at mile 69, the internet went nuts, briefly crashing the race organizer’s website.
But, as with all things ultra racing, what can be expected is the unexpected. In the early miles of the race, Dauwalter set a blistering pace with her trademark smile and cheer, making it — on the surface — look entirely effortless. She passed Entrekin relatively quickly, and as she picked off the men in front of her, it became clear that the overall win could be a possibility.
Courtney Dauwalter led the overall classification for many miles until a full-body shutdown ended her race after 108 miles.
When the weather hit the field about 30 miles in, Dauwalter held a small gap over Entrekin, and Mika Thewes ran a few miles in arrears in third place, the same place she’d finished the race in 2024. Lindsey Dwyer, winner of the 2024 Brazos Bend 100 Mile, was just a bit further back in fourth, and Sarah Ostaszewski, running the event for the fourth time after winning it in 2023, sat in fifth ahead of Kalie Demerjian and Allison Powell.
Reaching the Crown King aid station at mile 36, it was Dauwalter, Entrekin, and Dwyer in the top three, with the gaps between them stretching more than a mile each. Thewes, having a rough day, pulled the plug at Crown King.
As the miles wore on through the first day and the race approached Prescott at mile 77, it became clear that Entrekin and Dauwalter were in a league of their own, with Dauwalter leading the race and Entrekin sitting comfortably in the top 10 overall. Behind them, Dwyer was joined by a pack of women that now included Georgia Porter and Katherine Edwards Anderson.
Rachel Entrekin seemed to take the unseasonal Arizona weather in stride on her way to her second victory in a row at the 2025 Cocodona 250 Mile.
While everyone was watching Dauwalter take the overall lead, many failed to notice that Entrekin was still keeping the gap small and had worked her way into the top five overall as darkness descended and the weather deteriorated even further. Leaving Prescott and traversing the technical granite dells by Watson Lake a few miles outside of town, the gap between the top two women sat about an hour, and by the time the rest of the women’s field was leaving Prescott’s Whiskey Row just after midnight, the two leaders were already on the early slopes of the muddy Mingus Mountain, approaching the 100-mile mark of the race.
Whether it was the mud, the pace, or just a bad day, Dauwalter dropped at the Mingus Mountain aid station at mile 108 after experiencing what she called on social media a “full body shutdown.” Entrekin’s crew kept Dauwalter’s drop secret from her as long as possible, wanting her to keep her mindset of chasing someone down. Even with the rain, mud, and challenging conditions, Entrekin seemed in good spirits when she arrived at the top of Mingus, even stopping for a few seconds to play the piano that was set up in the building.
While Entrekin entertained the aid station with her musical talents, Dwyer and Porter ran near each other back through the lowlands of Prescott Valley at mile 90 with a reasonable gap on Ostaszewski and Powell. As the night wore on, the mud on the mountain got worse with flooded trails and shoes glommed up with clay-infused, cement-like mud.
Descending from Mingus Mountain, Entrekin reached the halfway point in the race in the small community of Jerome right around daybreak, still unknowing that she was leading the women’s race. She wouldn’t learn this fact, or that she was in third overall, until she reached Dead Horse aid station in Cottonwood at mile 134. Her reaction was to continue on at her steady and consistent pace.
Behind her, Dwyer opened up a small gap on Porter while climbing Mingus Mountain. The day brought cloud over the mountain, and Dwyer went through a several-hour low patch where she initially requested the race coverage cameras leave her alone before deciding she wanted to show the world the reality of what it took to race 250 miles.
Even after enduring an hours-long low point during the first night, Lindsey Dwyer ran consistently to finish as second-place woman.
At the halfway point in Jerome, Dwyer was moving well under threatening clouds, but by the time Porter got there just over an hour later, it was pouring rain. Ostaszewski stayed close on her tail and caught Porter at the aid station, and was able to leave first. The race for third — for the next 125 miles — was on, with a day and a half elapsed. Shelby Farrell, who’d made a big jump up in the field, now sat in fifth.
Meanwhile, Entrekin had reached Sedona at mile 162 looking comfortable and moving much faster than she had last year.
Georgia Porter ran in the top five before dropping in Sedona.
Through the second witching hour, the top three of Entrekin, Dwyer, and Ostaszewski stayed the same, while Porter was joined by Demerjian and Edwards Anderson, the trio not far behind as they all made their way toward Sedona. Dwyer got out of the Sedona aid station just before Ostaszewski arrived around 4 a.m., and Edwards Anderson and Porter showed up shortly after, bringing the race for third back together with 90 miles still to go. Porter would eventually drop, while Edwards Anderson went in chase of Ostaszewski into the dawn.
After running 194 miles, Entrekin took an extended break in Munds Park before the final stretch into Flagstaff. With nearly a 30-mile gap on second-place Dwyer with just under 60 miles left to race, she had a bit of time to play with on her way to the finish. Likely motivated by wanting to make it home before headlamp o’clock toward the end of day 3, Entrekin maintained a strong pace and summited Mount Elden around 5 p.m. with only six mostly downhill miles to go.
Sarah Ostaszewski enjoys a hot beverage in cold Arizona weather.
In the end, Rachel Entrekin would run the final miles into downtown Flagstaff in the dark and become a two-time champion of the event with a time of 63:50:55, beating the previous course record set by Annie Hughes in 2022 of 71:10:22 by seven hours.
Lindsey Dwyer finished in second in 79:35:28, and Sarah Ostaszewski made a remarkable late-race surge to finish third in 80:25:31.
Shelby Farrell maintained her fourth-place position, and Melissa Browne finished fifth after moving up several spots in the final quarter of the race.
2025 Cocodona 250 Mile Women’s Results
- Rachel Entrekin – 63:50:55
- Lindsey Dwyer – 79:35:28
- Sarah Ostaszewski – 80:25:31
- Shelby Farrell – 85:26:23
- Melissa Browne – 85:45:23
Tracking and full results.
