Ultramarathon runner speaks out after becoming 1st woman to win Cocodona 250-mile race
An ultramarathon runner is speaking out after becoming the first woman in history to win the Cocodona 250, a 250-mile endurance race, and setting a course record in the process.
Endurance athlete Rachel Entrekin crossed the finish line of the Cocodona 250 in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Wednesday after running for more than two days.
Her time of 56:09:48 set an overall course record of the fastest person ever, male or female, according to Aravaipa Running, which organizes the race.
"I didn't expect to be a pinnacle or champion for women's sports and what I just got to be a part of," Entrekin, 34, told ABC News in an interview after her victory. "So, yeah, it's pretty incredible."
The Cocodona 250 is considered one of the most difficult ultramarathons in North America, according to Aravaipa, taking competitors on a scenic journey through Arizona, up 38,791 feet, along the Black Canyon National Recreation Trail, Prescott Circle Trail, Sedona, Arizona Trail, Flagstaff Loop Trail and through the Sonoran Desert.
The race continues from day to night and stretches multiple days, meaning runners can experience extreme heat and extreme cold in addition to the geographical changes.
Entrekin said she didn't start off thinking she would finish at the front of the pack.
"I had a lot of doubt, actually," she said. "I thought that maybe I was being foolish."
Entrekin said she adopted a mantra along the way that helped rally her toward a record-setting and history-making finish in Flagstaff.
"I love the mantra that I happened to fall on during this race of just, 'Why not you? Why not now? Why not try?'" Entrekin said. "Somebody has to win, so ... why not believe that it could be you?"
Entrekin, who went to school to become a physical therapist, is now a professional ultramarathon runner and lives in Colorado. This is the third time she has run the Cocodona 250, which drew more than 1,300 runners this year, according to Aravaipa Running.
This year's race wasn't entirely smooth: Race organizers announced in an Instagram post Wednesday that a runner "experienced a serious medical emergency" while competing and later died.
Fellow ultrarunner Kilian Korth, who came in second and was the men's first-place finisher at this year's Cocodona, expressed admiration for Entrekin and praised her accomplishments.
"You look at some of the livestream footage [of the Cocodona race], I look like I'm struggling, and she looks like this is just a piece of cake," Korth told ABC News.
He added that Entrekin's record-setting run was "less [about] what she has done for women's sports and more [about] what she's done for humanity and pushing the boundaries of the sport further in that way."
Hilary Yang, a broadcaster for the Cocodona race, said Entrekin went above and beyond with her extraordinary run this year.
"I think there are some performances that sort of transcend the moment ... she truly just smashed the men's course record by several hours, smashed her own previous course record by six hours, and really just set this benchmark for women," Yang told ABC News.
Entrekin said she hopes to inspire others and show that women can do anything they set their minds to.
"I think women can do anything, and I'm happy that this race has been able to kind of put an exclamation point behind that sentence," she said.
