Ultra runner Michael Versteeg of Prescott, Arizona, won Cocodona’s first 250-mile run Thursday morning and crossed the finish line in Flagstaff after 72 hours of racing. Versteeg finished before Flagstaff Local Peter Mortimerwho is still in second place in the last few kilometers of his run. Maggie Guterl is currently the top woman in the race and at the time of writing has covered 366 km, what organizers refer to as a “250 mile run”, which corresponds to a total length of around 400 km. Guterl is in seventh place overall.
Versteeg’s victory
This is the first run of the Cocodona 250 organized by the Aravaipa Running team. The race started in Black Canyon City, about an hour north of Phoenix. From there, the runners traveled north and crossed several cities (including Versteeg’s hometown of Prescott) before finally arriving at Flagstaff, which is 1,500 m above sea level when the race started. Overall, the race offers a difference in altitude of almost 13,000 m, which corresponds to a height of one and a half Mount Everest.
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The tough battle, the heat of the desert and the sheer distance of the race didn’t stop Versteeg, who was at the forefront of the race during the 400 km journey. His 72 hour target time is roughly 10:30 a.m. per kilometer, which is remarkable when you look at the challenge as a whole. It’s not the first time Versteeg has made his name in the history books as he also won Aravaipa Running’s first Whiskey Man series in 2016. In addition, he has booked many other ultramarathon race victories.
The followers
The chase group (which makes up the rest of the Cocodona field, as Versteeg is the only finisher so far) includes Guterl, who is in seventh place and is currently being brought to the finish by an American ultra-running star Courtney Dauwalter. Guterl and Dauwalter know each other well, and earlier this year both competed in the Barkley Marathons (although like everyone else they registered DNFs in this year’s race).
Like Dauwalter, Guterl is known in the world of ultra running and has had several major race wins, including the Big’s Backyard Ultra win in 2019. Now Guterl wants to add another win to her résumé, 16K ahead of the runner-up woman Jessi Morton-LangehaugThe Cocodona crown is hers.
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Also race this week was Gene Dykes, a 73-year-old runner from Pennsylvania who holds multiple age group records, including the American 100-mile and 24-hour bests (21:06:07 and 179.98 km). Unfortunately, Dykes couldn’t survive the race and he (along with nearly 60 other runners) scored a DNF.
The race goes on and despite the many DNFs there are still dozens of other runners on the track making their way to the finish. Click here to see the Cocodona 250 live results.
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