Courtney Dauwalter drops out of Cocodona 250
After 108 miles, the ultrarunning GOAT called it quits on her 250-mile feat
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UTMB
In her Cocodona 250 debut on Monday, ultrarunning superstar Courtney Dauwalter started strong, finding herself in first overall by mile 77.2 (124.2 km). But on Tuesday morning, she ended up recording a rare DNF, reportedly due to severe stomach issues.
“Well, shoot–Court finished her run this morning at mile 108,” her team wrote on Instagram. “She’s doing fine and very thankful for all the cheers both in person and from afar. Thanks for being part of our team!”
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Things were looking promising for Dauwalter in the first third of the race–she overtook the women’s leader well before mile 36.5 (58.7 km), and was leading outright upon reaching Whiskey Row at mile 77.2 (124.2 km). “Excited to be out here,” the 40-year-old said around mile 12.5 (20.1 km). “Super cool. So far, loving it.” On Tuesday morning, she pulled off the course at Mingus Mountain, after tackling 174 km.
Her exit from the race leaves Dan Green leading the men and overall, and Rachel Entrekin, last year’s winner, in third overall with a crushing lead over the women’s field.
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Dauwalter, the undisputed GOAT of ultra-trail, came in as a major headliner for this year’s event; she announced her plans in January after years of dominating the 100-mile distance. She earned the “Triple Crown” in 2023, winning Western States, Hardrock and UTMB in the span of about nine weeks.
The Hopkins, Minn., native hadn’t run a race over 200 miles since the 2020 Big’s Backyard Ultra–although she won the Moab 240 outright in 2017, and was the first woman and second overall finisher at Tahoe 200 in 2018.
Her first 250-mile attempt comes just over a month after setting the course record at Crown King Scramble 50K.
The Cocodona 250 is an annual ultramarathon through the heart of Arizona; this year’s event is being held from May 5 to 10. The course follows a 250-mile (402.5 km) route from Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, starting in the desert and climbing 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the first 50 km. It was the brainchild of Aravaipa Running’s Jamil Coury and Anthony Culpepper as a way to create a challenging route linking many of their favourite Arizona towns and trails, and traversing mountains, valleys, ponderosa pine forests, desert grasslands, lakes and unique rock formations.
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