Holly Haldane reflects on what Rachel Entrekin’s Cocodona 250 win means to her and other women:

And I cried.

Not delicate tears. Not cinematic tears. The kind that arrive from somewhere primal. Because there she was; exhausted, relentless, powerful. A woman refusing to shrink herself. A woman taking up space and daring the world to witness it. As Rachel herself said in a post-race interview; “why not me?”
…
I am angry.

Angry for the younger version of myself who learned to confuse silence with safety. Angry for the girl who internalised misogyny so deeply she mistook self-erasure for strength and spent months being frightened of the person she lived with.
…
History has never looked kindly on people who chose silence while others fought to be treated as human beings. History will judge this generation, so be on the side that chose love. Women are watching their rights, autonomy, and dignity erode in real time across the world, and we are being told to stay polite while it happens.

Fuck that. I say to women, be loud. Be difficult. Be impossible to ignore.

Eat enough to take up space in the world. Eat enough to be strong. Eat enough to have the energy to remain angry. Because anger is not a character flaw when it is a rational response to injustice. It is fuel.

Nothing for me to add but to encourage you, especially us men, to read her post and sit with it for a bit and for god’s sake keep that “ya but…” up your own arse for once.

On his blog ‘The Crux’ Scott shares some observations and criticism of the Cocodona phenomenon:

I realize in 2026 any criticism is considered warfare, especially when it comes popular races (like Cocodona 250) put on by popular people (here, my friend Jamil Coury). To be clear: I like Jamil and I enjoyed my time at Cocodona, which was a well put on event.
…
 Prior to the race it was announced that 400 volunteer spots remained open. The total number of volunteers has to be massive. Also, each runner seemed to have a crew that ranged from a handful of people to a large army.
…
But all the hype was overwhelming. It’s also strange that there is a volunteer shortage while there is no shortage of social media teams for mid pack runners. Maybe it would be a good idea to make people get credentials to use this race to make “content” and require those people to also satisfy a volunteer requirement first.
…
I have also spent significant time thinking about the problem of the rise of the 200 milers. Clearly these races use significant resources in terms of volunteers, pacers, crew, etc. I have seen more and more races putting out the call for volunteers and I can’t help but think that this is a factor and cause of that.

Some really well thought out comments by Scott here, highlighting the good and pondering the downsides that come from this new phenomena. Well worth your time.

Also: This is a much better way to voice your opinion, btw.

Seth LaReau on his blog ‘Trail Waves’ ponders “must-have” livestreams at WSER Golden Ticket races:

Cocodona delivered 125 hours of livestream coverage. The Canyons 100K, with six Golden Tickets and a stacked field, got none. A business-lens look at why, and how to fix it for the future.

Seth writes very eloquently on the business side of our sport but a few big things he’s missing in this article. So, I’ll help him out. Under his business explanations on why UTMB didn’t do a livestream for Canyons he argues:

The argument: Livestreams are expensive and cost significant resources that UTMB doesn’t have.

The reality: Thanks to the WSER Foundation’s Form 990, we know what it costs to broadcast Western States each year (2025 total: $104,113). At less than 2/3 of the distance, Canyons shouldn’t cost more.

The real reality: would the trail world be okay with UMTB JUST live-streaming the 100K? If UTMB would do a livestream for Canyons they wouldn’t do it just for the Golden Ticket chase – a Western States series. They’d have to do it for the entirety of the weekend, not just the 100K race. The 100M race kicked off on Friday at noon, last finisher completed the race in 35hrs. The 25K, 50K, and 100K all fit into that same timeframe. So it’s not 2/3 of the distance, but ~20% longer in broadcasting time than the WSER race which has a cutoff of 30hrs and livestreams the entire race. Further Seth is suggesting here that UTMB should increase the entry fee for all runners of every distance but then only livestream the 100K? If you add the cost of the livestream to JUST the 100K it’ll be $140 per big, yeah, that’ll fly.

UTMB cleared $500,000+ in registration revenue from the Canyons weekend. More than enough to support a livestream.

You’re asking a company to just “easily” justify a 20% expense hit on their revenue… what world are we living in?

Adding $100,000 in livestream costs to the entry fees of the ~1,800 starters would increase the cost for every bib by $55. Aravaipa might be able to absorb that cost at $2,000 a pop for an entry fee to their 250 mile event, but Aravapia is also using their own company ‘Mountain Outpost’ for the livestream, so there are other factors to consider of how this expense gets calculated on which P&L line item.

Seth continues his argument:

UTMB decided that the benefit of a livestream at Canyons wasn’t worth the dollars, time, and logistics to put it on.

The real reality: I believe, based on various sources UTMB offers the livestream to every event location and asks the local tourism office to pay for it. Why did Auburn, the Endurance Capital of the World not pony up?

For anyone watching the Cocodona livestream you noticed the ’sponsor mentions’ directly via logo placement and during the broadcast in continued earned media mentions of Sedona and Flagstaff. (Both Sedona and Flagstaff are listed as sponsors on the Cocodona website.) Clearly Aravaipa has figured out the tourism angle for funding their events, this hasn’t worked yet for UTMB in Auburn, California.

Now to Seth’s potential solutions:

1. UTMB builds livestream into its race business model

UTMB has livestreams built into their business model. UTMB is offering a livestream to every location in exchange for some favorable coverage as a tourist destination. Some pay, others don’t. Seth argues here that UTMB should build the livestream for a WSER series into their business model – essentially arguing that UTMB should just pay for another organization’s product.

2. HOKA earmarks sponsorship dollars for broadcast

I mean, sure. HOKA could do that, but the contract is written with WSER and not UTMB and runs through 2029.

3. Drop UTMB races (except CCC) from the Golden Ticket schedule

I love LOVE the idea that everyone is talking about Big Alta as the solution here: a fairly new event – that until this year didn’t even have 100K race – and therefore isn’t even eligible as a Western States qualifier yet. And Big Alta also hasn’t had a livestream before. I’m sure Daybreak/Freetrail would love to just cut $100,000 out of their revenue for this expense. The Big Alta 100K had ~270 starters, 840 in total for the entire event (according to UltraSignup results page for the event). That would be $120 added to every runner’s entry fee, close to doubling it. Daybreak/Freetrail tried a livestream at Gorge Waterfalls once, and hasn’t done one since. Why?

I’m pretty sure if WSER would just change their schedule of races and announce your race organization as the host of a Golden Ticket race you wouldn’t mind taking on the extra $100K to provide a livestream. Oh, Big Alta is sponsored by Salomon? Yeah, I’m sure they’d love to pony up the dollars for a HOKA Golden Ticket race. That’s just not how it works in our sport’s brand partnership landscape. It would be nice, maybe, but it’s just not a reality.

4. Contract Mountain Outpost (or equivalent) for the broadcast

Yeah, let’s contract with the only other real competitor Mountain Outpost = Aravaipa and let them handle the livestream for your event. Again, brilliant solution right here. And again, that contract should probably be between WSER and Mountain Outpost and not UTMB and Mountain Outpost.

This also doesn’t solve the Chianti issue?

Every Western States Golden Ticket race should have a livestream. UTMB should prioritize it. HOKA (or future presenting sponsors) should require it as part of sponsorship agreements. Fans should speak loudly in support.

Somehow everyone is pulled into this responsibility but the very organization and people who make the decision on what races will be Golden Ticket races?

No mentioned of Western States and what they might be able to do here… to, you know, their race series?

Like, they could – in true nonprofit fashion – send out an RFP and let races apply. But would that create better races? I’m not sure. If the RFP includes the demand for a livestream (since the race org is on the hook for this and not WSER or HOKA) I wonder who would actually apply. Probably only Aravaipa could actually stem this requirement.

The team behind the decision Dylan Bowman, Topher Gaylord, and Craig Thornley aren’t mentioned once in the entire article either. They are the ones selecting the races as Dylan just mentioned again on the latest episode of Rest Day on the Free Trail podcast. Dylan made some interesting points about the challenges to the racing calendar to get elites to show up at a certain event so we actually do have a great race that might be worth following. But Dylan too dodged some obvious questions in that conversation.

Would it be nice if all Golden Ticket races are live-streamed?

Sure, and most everyone is in agreement here. But so far the solutions suggested are all making the case on why it isn’t happening and not why it is inevitable that it should. And the business-lens of ‘Tail Waves’ didn’t take us any further. In fact it just reiterated that what we have in our sport is a lot of wishcasting and very little understanding of the reality of the business behind it all.

In the light of the political headwinds and the financial subsidy challenges UTMB experienced in Nice, France new-ish ‘Trail Running World’ from Germany dug into some publicly available financials for various trail events to pull out some figures out worth taking a look at. For folks interested in “how the sausage is made”, and especially for American race directors this sheds some interesting light on how putting on a trail event in Europe works (compared to the fee based system we encounter in North America).

One region and event that sticks out to me is the is the Walserwaeg by UTMB in the Valle d’Aosta:

In July 2025, the regional parliament of Valle d’Aosta granted the organizers of the Monte Rosa Walserwaeg by UTMB, led by Franco Collé, 400,000 euros per year for three years (2025–2027) – a total of 1.2 million euros.

Tor des Géants is in the same valley and according to various sources this event too has received hundreds of thousands of dollars to establish itself in the global trail calendar. This valley must have money – and understand tourism. Crazy!

Via Instagram post:

Trail running at the Olympics?
We’re officially opening this conversation and we truly want to hear the voice of our community of athletes and trail running enthusiasts.

We created a survey to collect the opinions of everyone who wants to share their point of view on this topic.

Here’s the link to the survey if you want to share your opinion on this sticky subject.

Host Jeff Pelletier interviews Dean Leslie, the filmmaker behind 8 seasons of Salomon Trail Running TV.

Totally worth a listen to (or watch on Youtube) for anyone who’s ever watched a trail running films, is a story-teller, or a filmmaker themselves. Really great background story to one of the most interesting times in our sport. A time when capturing the person behind the run and sharing the ‘why’ catapulted this weird niche sport of ours to the forefront of our collective minds, onto so many social media accounts, started the new trend in running that is sweeping the globe right now.

On ESPN’s ‘Pardon The Interruption‘ Tony Cornheiser and Mike Wilbon share Rachel’s finish and wish ‘Happy Trails’ to the runners of Cocodona.

What a moment for the sport of trail running. Can you imagine being the person who just took a giant dump over this achievement by wondering if 200+ mile events really are part of our sport?

Speaking of ‘hot-taking’ at an inopportune time: Josh Rosenthal from Borderlands has some thoughts on the Cocodona Livestream:

I watched to actively observe the audience behavior itself and one thing became impossible to ignore:

Cocodona does not have an awareness problem. It has a conversion problem.

The cameras are still rolling, the historic finish with over 42K viewers hadn’t even happened yet, but Josh has watched some livestream coverage and has thoughts.

I’ve been known to share some of the same sentiments that Josh is bringing up here. Mainly that the livestream isn’t quite there yet. Something’s missing, and in a way the viewership and interest is growing despite the polish and professional appeal. That might be worth pointing out and celebrating.

The livestream currently is generating general interest viewers, people are being picked up getting their questions answered about where these runners pee, or what sun shirt is best for long runs in the desert. This is pointless fluff for the ‘real fans of the sport’ but for newcomers it might be riveting to hear and doesn’t exclude them through complicated insider lingo.

Sometimes the good is good enough and ain’t the enemy of the great?

Matt Trappe on his ‘A Matter of Brand’ blog:

Cocodona’s success aside, this year’s race brought a big win for Rachel, a win for Norda, Precision and Tantrums but, far more importantly, it was a huge win for women and the sport on the whole.

(Wo)Man, what perfect timing for Rachel to win Cocodona outright and reset the course record in such dominating fashion. Right at the time when several voices (including an influential community organizer I sparred with just the other day!) were claiming that women after all DO NOT have any chances against men in endurance sports – cause science, and of course, historic precedent – we get Rachel to win it all and reset our perspective and give everyone a chance to recalibrate. Take that chance, I strongly suggest.

Another trail media project that’s now being enhanced by AI, but it brings Ken back to his desk, and my RSS reader, so this might be all for the positive.

Francesco Puppi doesn’t like 200+ mile trail races and feels the need to air his displeasure using Rachel’s incredible achievement as the dumping ground.

There’s all kinds of wrong with this and not just the timing of the post.

If you wish to be a gatekeeper and define what trail running should be – either as co-founder of the PTRA or as an athlete to ensure the distance you chose reigns supreme – you could find ways to facilitate that conversation and maybe learn from others in the process.

But going on Instagram to share your displeasure of a specific race distance or format – in our world of trail running that’s been enriched by new ideas popping up every other year since its inception – feels immature, unprofessional, and trollish behavior that’s uncalled for for any level of athlete.

The sport of trail running is at a fascinating moment in time. The professionalization is happening slowly, but we’re not in a place where the elite runners race separate events with full on doping controls, prize money, and federation support on the way to the Olympics, while everyone else “plays in the mountains just for fun”. What largely defines what is considered trail running is what makes a splash in the media. And that arrives from both ends of the spectrum – manufactured and financially incentivized, and the way explorers used to share their historic conquests: through sheer boundary breaking achievements that inspire the public beyond our niche.

Our sport still hold both ends closely together and that what makes it great, and unique, and worth pursuing as an elite and an amateur. The best athletes and voices in our sport can hold both of these things in balance and celebrate the humans behind it that choose to step onto the dirt and believes in themselves to do the unthinkable.

That’s worth celebrating and that’s why we’re in this sport.

Sadly, the impetus is the death of a runner during the event. The fact that Rachel is the overall leader gets a footnote:

Entrekin led this year’s race through 48 hours, according to Run by Outside, and is attempting to become the first woman to finish first overall.

At this moment almost 25,000 people are watching the livestream of Rachel making her way to the finish in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Still in beta, but you can now search a map to find your favorite races close to you, or where you want to travel to next.

The new user interface feels inspired by the Airbnb search window – I dig it.

Picked this info from the livestream but it seems Mountain Outpost’s Race Purse can’t offer this for “legal reasons” = they most likely ran into the same problems as Run.Fund did.

Available for a limited time this summer, but I’ve had the chance to sample it for the past few weeks and I’m here to tell you it’s delicious. And even better:

Tailwind Nutrition will donate 10% of all Mango Yuzu Endurance Fuel sales to the Conservation Alliance, helping protect wild places and outdoor spaces we all rely on.

Get some for your summer runs, thank me later.

I’ve just been browsing Liam’s Cocodona 250 race preview post and something struck me. Every single athlete Liam considers for the podium and worth mentioning here is from the US. And I am not insinuating bias, if anyone is thorough researching a runner’s potential for success at any given race it’s Liam. I am just wondering given the global popularity, and name-recognition, (and livestream) of Cocodona why hasn’t the event attracted a larger international field of runners?

Announced via the Hoka and WSER Instagram accounts:

He’s back! See you at States, @walmsleyruns!

So Jim took that Hoka sponsor spot after all. This had been rumored and hotly debated among the trail nerds for several weeks now. It’s an official way to “get into WSER” so I don’t have any beef with it*, but clearly he calculated this very shrewdly. He chose not to race any Golden Ticket events to maximize his chances to show up in California fresh and rested.

On this week’s episode of Singletrack with James Lauriello I wondered that after seeing how ACG rolls up at trail events they sponsor Hoka will have to step it up for WSER and UTMB. Well, this is HOKA stepping up: sending their biggest prize pony to one of trail’s biggest shows for a showdown for the ages. This will certainly give several of the athletes who are eying the podium something to think about.

* maybe I do have some beef with it. (These sponsor bibs COULD BE GIVEN to athletes that otherwise would have a difficult time getting qualified to run Western States. Amateur athletes that can bring diversity and color to the event and to one of our sports’ biggest stages. Hoka, and in extension Jim are sending a signal here. Will this be exciting for the fans of our sport? Yes, undoubtedly it will. But Jim clearly could’ve gotten himself into the race at any of the Golden Ticket races these past few months. By taking the sponsor slot he’s not just maximizing his chances of success, but he’s taking the bib away from someone else. That’s a choice.) I wrote this down here and will sit on it for a bit more to see if I change my mind.

Alright, I thought about it some more. Hoka apparently receives 4 sponsor bibs. One went to Jim, one to Tommie Runz and the other two bibs to two amateur women runners. Hard to argue with this selection. (I kept my initial rambling thought in there, to “show my work” and thought process.

Jim posted a lengthy (post continues in the comments) entry on his Instagram explaining his situation with his injury and how he approached him taking the Hoka sponsor slot.

I asked if Hoka would be comfortable to provide me a sponsor entry and if WS and the board would be okay with this. I’m humbled and I feel small that they didn’t hesitate to have my back to help make this happen for me. I don’t feel I should get special priority like this but it’s been a hard journey with the injury and I needed to ask for help this time. All I can say is thank you. You know I’ll do my best and try my hardest out there. See you at States.

Well worth a read.

One of them the ‘Trail Hunt‘ is kind of a fun format I hadn’t seen in our trail world:

… a unique elite race in pursuit format with limited starting spots and total prize money of EUR 30,000.

The best athletes will compete against each other over two days of action. Only the fastest runners in the vertical race will qualify for the pursuit start in the trail race. A format for power, precision, speed, and fearlessness — for those who thrive when the pressure rises. Not just a starting line. 

An elite only event with a prize purse, stretched over two days, where on the first day folks run a Vertical Race. The results of that race determines their start time for the following day’s trail race over 24km.

I’m excited we’re not done experimenting in our sport. Both on the spear end of it – finding competitions that attract elite athletes and spectators alike and on the amateur level where Innsbruck is offering a ‘Businesstrail’ event – for folks who work in Innsbruck and want to participate in a short ‘after work’ trail race. The organizer ‘Laufwerkstatt’ also offers a Team registration with the largest team receiving a special prize.

Yes, for the media all these special events and classifications are hard to evaluate beyond the novelty status, but I do appreciate the creativity for an event with thousands of participants. Innsbrucks Trailrun Festival bills itself as the largest trail running event in the German speaking region, bigger than the ‘now’ UTMB-owned Zugspitz Ultra.

Episode 345 with James Lauriello:

James Lauriello joins me on a tour de force through the entire world of trail running. We chat about ultra vs. short trail and the role our trail media plays. We ponder what the arrival of ACG means and how the established brands in the trail space are going to respond. And finally we look ahead at the (re-)launch of the US Skyrunner National Series coming this summer.

Links

• James Lauriello on Instagram
• The Steep Stuff Podcast
• The Steep Stuff Podcast on Instagram
• US Skyrunner National Series

Vacation Races, owners of lots of properties, among them several Ultras that sort of never really felt truly home in their portfolio of ‘easy half marathons adjacent to National Parks sold these properties to the only US outfit that could take them: Aravaipa Running. Announced on Instagram:

Aravaipa Running has officially acquired Zion, Antelope Canyon and Bryce Canyon Ultras and the Ultra Adventure brand from Vacation Races.

More info can be found at ultraadventures.com, which already links to the Aravaipa website. With Zion and Bryce now under Aravaipa ownership it takes the organization to Utah, another state conquered. This acquisition also brings together a nice set of well-known 100 Mile races, which would make for a fun circuit, or even Series. I’ll spare myself any jokes about monopolies.