WOW! Madison woman sets record on way to 250-mile run
Rachel Entrekin wins Cocodona Ultramarathon
Filled with emotion, Rachel Entrekin finished the grueling 250-mile Cocodona 250 Ultramarathon in record time and was the overall winner becoming the first woman to earn that honor. The 2009 graduate of Bob Jones High overcame little sleep over her 56-hour trek in Arizona. Photo by Scott Rokis
FLADSTAFF, ARIZ. – The residents of Madison and especially those who have attended Madison City Schools have had an array of spectacular athletes and accomplishments in every sport imaginable. The top of the list has been crowded, but a clear-cut, top-notch performance now stands taller than all the rest.
Former Bob Jones High student Rachel Entrekin set the sport of ultra-marathon running ablaze May 4-6 as she became the first woman to win the overall Cocodona 250 Ultra- Marathon in record time finishing the grueling jaunt in Flagstaff, Ariz. Her winning time was 56-hours, 9-minutes and 48-seconds, almost 90-minutes ahead of the runner-up. Her time broke the existing time set by a male runner by more than two hours.
The 34-year old Entrekin resides in Colorado, but the remainder of her family consisting of parents and brother still live in Madison as Entrekin graduated from Bob Jones High in 2009. She earned a degree in Exercise Science in 2012 from UAB in Birmingham and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2016. She took up running while attending school in the Magic City and it seemed the more miles she posted, the better results she achieved. She began running in road races, then into trail running and finally in 2013 participated in her first ultra- marathon.
The Cocodona 250 featured a course which began in Black Canyon, located 45 miles north of Phoenix, through the Bradshaw Mountain Range through the towns of Crown King, Prescott, Jerome and Sedona before finishing in downtown Flagstaff. The course is sometimes rugged with a maximum elevation of 9,241 feet. Runners had 125 hours to complete the course that runs 253.3 miles. Her trek included sophisticated arranged food and drink stops along with short stops for sleep on the trail. According to reports, Entrekin took three naps which totaled no more than 19 minutes over the two-and-a-half days of her effort.
Sponsored by Norda and Precision Fuel and Hydration, Entrekin has been the mainstay of women’s ultra-marathon running the last three years. She posted women’s title championships at the Cocodona 250 the last two years and is the only three-time women’s division champion. Now, as overall winner, in what is considered one of the grueling tests of athleticism, even her father, Robin Entrekin, said of her effort, “We’re proud of her of how she has conducted herself after the race as we are of her winning the race.”
