Rachel Entrekin was on course to make history after the first 24 hours of the Cocodona 250.
The American star has won the women’s race in this epic 253-mile point-to-point ultramarathon through central Arizona in each of the last two years, shattering the course record in 2025 with her time of 63 hours, 50 minutes and 55 seconds.
She finished 11th overall in 2024 and then fourth last year but as the sun came up after the first day’s running this time around she was in a clear lead and well ahead of her own course record.
Of course there is still an awful long way to go and no doubt many twists and turns, but here’s how the first 24 hours played out…
Fast start
Around a quarter of the near 39,000 feet of elevation comes in the first 30 miles and by the aid station at Crown King after 37 miles the race was already taking shape.
Entrekin was through first in 6:47 just ahead of the leading men which included reigning 200 Triple Crown champion Kilian Korth and 2022 Cocodona winner Joe McConaughy.
That was 12 minutes quicker than Entrekin’s split at the same point 12 months ago.
The great Courtney Dauwalter, who was a DNF in this event in 2025 but is back for more this time around, was the second-placed female 22 minutes behind and 15 in front of third-placed Heather Jackson.
Entrekin out on her own
At Kamp Kipa after 61 miles Entrekin and Korth continued to show the way but by the time we got to Whiskey Row, Entrekin was out on her own and 20 minutes ahead of Korth who was now running with McConaughy.
Dauwalter led the overall at around this point in 2025 before things went downhill but it was still a statement start from Entrekin.
And the pattern continued so that by the time Entrekin reached aid station Jerome in 23:26 she was now more than half an hour clear of Korth who got there at 24:08.
To give that some context, Entrekin was more than three hours inside her time there last year and had covered around half of the total distance.
Never before has a woman taken the overall title in this event – but never before has one been so well placed.
It also emerged that her two closest rivals in the women’s race, Dauwalter and Jackson, both lost some time after taking a wrong turn before Whiskey Row.
Jackson retraced her steps first and that lifted her into second place.
In terms of the overall picture shortly after the 25-hour mark, the Instagram embed below from the race organisers shows the top 10 and you can check out the latest position via this link for the live tracker.
