In early May, Rachel Entrekin accomplished something awesome and smashed a record in the process. She won Cocodona 250, a 250 mile ultra marathon, and not only was she the first woman to cross the finish line, beating the first man by 1 hour 18 minutes, she also broke the race record by 2 hours!

An ultra marathon is an extremely long race, often between 30 to 150 miles or longer. Unlike regular marathons, ultra marathons are held in rugged terrains like forests and mountains which makes it even more challenging to run. Cocodona 250 is one of the hardest ultra marathons, as it crosses through the forests, mountains, and deserts of Arizona.

The race goes on for days and nights. It is so tough that most of the runners get exhausted or injured, and end up not finishing the race. And sometimes they end up seeing mirages.

Entrekin is 34, and started running in 2009. “I love running up mountains,” she says. She likes to run ultra marathons and haswon a lot of them. In fact, she also won the Cocodona 250 last year.

This year, Entrekin’s speed really surprised herself. She finished in 56 hours 9 minutes which was a whopping 8 hours faster than her last year’s time.

Even though Entrekin was “just as qualified” to be at the front of the race it didn’t mean it was easy. She had to constantly run for 2 and a half days and in all she only slept for 19 minutes!

To give her body enough energy for the run, she regularly ate a lot of mashed potatoes because it was perfect for times when she was too tired to chew.

Entrekin thinks that speed isn’t the only thing in an ultra marathon. A runner’s attitude and how they handle situations is also important, which gives women advantages. Entrekin also thinks that people shouldn’t measure women’s success by comparing them to men. She believes that women shouldn’t talk themselves out of trying things even if they are unsure of success.