Entrekin Smashes Records in 250-Mile Race
In the Cocodona 250, Rachel Entriken ran ten back-to-back marathons, spanning 253 miles, straight through the desert and over four mountain peaks, on less sleep than it takes to edit, decide and post a picture on a social media platform. For comparison, a race is a timed, organized event where participants run a specific distance to test their fitness, compete against others, or achieve a personal record. A marathon is a long-distance footrace with an official distance of exactly 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 kilometers). Most marathons are on flat ground and some are on slight hills. An ultramarathon is a footrace that spans over 26 miles and 385 yards. Ultrarunners typically take breaks, and even sleep if the. number of miles is 200-plus. If the Cocodona 250 doesn’t sound like an average marathon or race, you’re right, it’s not. To those who considered this just a little more extreme than the average marathon, guess what? Entrekin beat the fastest man in the race by 1 hour and 19 minutes, the next fastest women by nearly 6 hours, and she also beat the world record by more than 2 hours.
The race started in Black Canyon City, in the Sonoran Desert, and ended in Flagstaff. While the sweltering sun burned over their heads, runners had to endure arid deserts where they were exposed to intense heat and at risk of heatstroke. The trails in Black Canyon City were remote, dusty, dry and surrounded by Saguaro Cacti. In the night, runners had to go through wind chills, thunderstorms, and leftover snow capping the mountaintops. They had to endure more than two days of sleep deprivation and everything in between, from boulder hopping and cliffs, to wading through rivers and carefully navigating steep slope drops, the runners really faced every challenge nature could provide.
One might wonder, if Entriken completed this grueling race and beat the world record, then she must have had some kind of secret power food to supply her calories. Not quite – Entriken relied on mashed potatoes to supply her calorie needs the whole race. Over the race, there definitely were checkpoints for food and a change of clothes. However, runners purposefully chose not to linger at the checkpoints for too long, fearing that they would be encouraged or maybe even convinced to stay rather than run off into the dark forest.
However, the race didn’t just take a physical toll on the runners, it took a mental toll too. During the course of the race, Entrekin often doubted why she was in the lead – and if she even deserved to be the winner. In addition, sleep deprivation often caused runners to hallucinate. Entriken reportedly said that she saw small phantom animals darting around and a massive bird flying over her pacer’s head. Isolation was a problem too., during the climb to Mount Elden, Entriken had to run in the dark all by herself. The isolation of the race caused the runners to spontaneously feel anxiety and paranoia.
Entrekin’s win was not just numbers on a screen. It inspired over 41,000 people worldwide to keep going, to keep racing, and to keep reaching for the stars. Entrekin’s win closed the gap forever between men’s and women’s race times and proved that the winner could really be anyone.
Nice revisions, Charlotte! Just a few punctuation edits and a lingering run-on sentence but otherwise this is publication-ready! Keep it up!
George