Jamil Coury Announces Death During 2026 Cocodona 250
A participant died during the cocodona 250 after experiencing a medical emergency on the course, and race founder Jamil Coury said the event will continue in the runner’s honor. He announced the death late Tuesday night and said the race team is supporting those directly involved.
Jamil Coury on the trail
“Out of respect for their family and loved ones, we are not sharing additional personal details at this time, but our team is supporting those directly involved and will share more only if and when appropriate,” Coury said. He added, “The race is continuing on, but now in the runner’s honor, we ask all participants and crew to carry the memory of this runner with you on the trails, the rest of this week and into the future.”
The 2026 Cocodona 250 is the race’s sixth edition, a 253-mile run to Flagstaff, Arizona. Coury had already described the field on the eve of the race as having “the competitiveness of the fields is just unbelievable, on both the men’s and women’s side.”
Rachel Entrekin at Munds Park
Rachel Entrekin was leading overall at Munds Park, mile 190.6, at sunset on night two. She has won the Cocodona 250 twice and owns the current women’s course record of 63:50:55.
Behind her, Kilian Korth reached Munds Park about five minutes later and spent about 20 minutes in the warming tent before heading toward mile 200. Cody Poskin entered Munds Park with a healthy gap over Heather Jackson in fourth place, while Courtney Dauwalter, Zach Hauer, DJ Fox and Joe McConaughy were all in the Schnebly Hill aid station at the same time.
Past winners in the field
The race still had four past champions in view when the update was published: Michael Versteeg, Joe McCounaghy, Michael McKnight and Entrekin. Max Jolliffe, who won the 2024 Moab 240 and DNFed last year just a few miles from the finish, was also part of the field, along with Dauwalter after she DNFed at mile 108 last year.
For runners and crews, the immediate change is emotional rather than logistical: the race goes on, but under the weight of Coury’s request to carry the runner’s memory with them on the trails. The lead remained with Entrekin as the field moved deeper into the 253-mile race, with the event now marked by both competition and loss.
