Ole! Cocodona 250 Ultramarathon Official Thread 2025

Better than lining the pockets of Candice Burt

It's kind of embarrassing to see to what the sport of ultrarunning has evolved to. I'm glad that I aged out of this.

In what world does an event sponsor not help in "moving the sport forward"? I'm certainly not about to spend $140 on a t-shirt, but their sponsorship of events like Cocodona or Saddles literally helps move the sport forward, or at least sustains it.

I get not liking their vibe (certainly not my cup of tea), but it's not like they are out clubbing baby seals. And like I said in my post above, if you tracked how many Max fans were in the chat, guys like him and Versteeg definitely help bring exposure and increased participation to trail running.

I really hope trail running doesn't go the way of surf culture, with wanton, irrational territoriality. More people out exercising and experiencing nature is a good thing, whether they were brought in via $220 running shorts or whatever means you deem acceptable.

Don't disagree at all, but this is a thread about Cocodona.

Just because the promoter has a nicer vibe and fully functioning toilets vs buckets doesn't make this any less a circus with the scene this race has attracted.

It moves Satisfy forward, not the sport.

There was another brand who sponsored and staffed that aid station before Satisfy and there will be someone/something that will do so afterwards as well.

I think the culture of trail running is fine. It's trail ultrarunning that we should be concerned about between the pyramid schemes (UTMB stones), high impact races that leverage their lottery entries into fostering a culture of FOMO (WS100 and Hardrock) vs what "brands" culture are trying to impact. It's all tied together.

To your first point, seems like semantics. It's fine not to like Satisfy, but more companies putting money into trail running is a good thing in my book. If somebody watched Cocodona because they follow Max/Satisfy and are now inspired to go run their local trails, that's moving the sport forward.

And sure somebody else would have sponsored that aid station if not for Satisfy, but maybe that somebody is now spending that marketing money/energy at a different race. There is some trickle down I would hope.

I don't disagree with some of your points at the end, though. To the extent that UTMB has muscled out independently operated races, I agree it's not great. But I think there is a positive to the increased "Ironman-ization" of trail running, if you will, to the extent that it increases opportunites for participation. There are still plenty of "If I get lost, hurt, or die, it's my own damn fault" type operations out there for trail purists.

Just my .02

Cocodona 250 2026 sells out in 1 hour!!!!!