Rachel Entrekin has made history by beating a field of elite men and women to win the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon.

Entrekin had won the women’s race on two occasions but on Wednesday she headed the entire field, winning in a record time of 56 hours 9 minutes and 48 seconds.

“I think I basically wept from the second I got off the single track until I crossed the finish line,” she told Run after completing her victory. The 34-year-old’s previous best time, which she set last year, was 63:50:55. The overall record had been 58:47:18.

The American took breaks along the way. According to Canadian Trail Running, she stopped to pet dogs, while she told Run that she had a few naps: “I slept five minutes, then seven minutes, then seven minutes,” Entrekin said. “My goal was to only have dirt naps.” She was helped by a support crew of six, which included her parents.

Entrekin did not play team sports in high school as she didn’t think she was good enough, but took up running seriously in 2012 while studying exercise science at college. She went on to earn her doctorate in 2016.

“Why put my body and mind through such stressful exercise you may ask, because it’s fun and you get to explore so much stuff while you’re in these races as the biggest hook for me is I see lots of the world in a short time frame,” Entrekin told the Madison Record in 2025.

Despite its name, the Cocodona 250 is run over a 253-mile course in Arizona. It is one of the world’s toughest ultramarathons and athletes must deal with 38,791ft of elevation gain, with a high point of 9,241ft and desert conditions.

Tragedy struck this year’s race when a runner died on Tuesday after a medical emergency. The race continued in the runner’s honor and organizers asked athletes and their crews “to carry the memory of this runner with you on the trail”.