00:00Coca-Dona is a 250-mile, three-day endurance race in Flagstaff, Arizona.
00:05Competitors can stop whenever they want.
00:07They can eat, they can change shoes, or take dirt naps on the side of the trail.
00:11But it all counts towards their time, fastest wins.
00:15This week, the fastest man or woman was Rachel Enterkin.
00:19Yes, you heard that correctly.
00:20She smashed the course record and beat her previous record by, I think it's seven hours.
00:25Rachel, is that right?
00:26She joins us now.
00:27I believe you're in Flagstaff, Arizona.
00:29Thank you so much.
00:29I sent you a desperate Instagram message after seeing this story and you agreed to come on,
00:33so I'm very grateful.
00:34Seven hours?
00:35Seven hours?
00:37Yeah, I don't know the math because I've had like five hours of sleep since Monday, basically.
00:43But yeah, last year I did it in about 63 or 64 hours, and then this year it was 56.
00:51So whatever that math is, is how much I beat it by.
00:56Can I ask the why question here?
00:57I mean, I've had friends who have done standard marathons.
01:00They want to see a city in a new way or get a t-shirt.
01:04What is the motivation that drives an ultramarathoner like you?
01:07And this is like a serious ultramarathon.
01:08I mean, I've seen something like 50 miles or more.
01:10This is an incredible distance.
01:12Massive, yeah.
01:13Massive, yeah.
01:13Yeah.
01:15Well, I think, you know, as you do something like a marathon, you know, the more times you do it,
01:21the, I guess, relatively easier it gets.
01:24And so in order to kind of chase that next challenge, you have to do one of two things.
01:29You either have to run it faster or you have to find something that is longer.
01:33I really like the multi-day races because I think that there are so many things that can prove to
01:41be really challenging
01:42during all that time that you're out there.
01:44And you have to kind of figure out how to manage those things while still moving forward.
01:50So I just think that they're really fun.
01:52How do you do that?
01:53And, you know, it's exactly the same, though.
01:55Like, I want to get a t-shirt and see cool stuff.
01:59I do want to say, you don't have to do a longer race.
02:01You don't have to.
02:02But I know Lisa's got a question.
02:04Well, nobody has to do anything.
02:06Nobody has to do.
02:06Yes, yes.
02:08How do you recuperate?
02:09I mean, do you give your body time to rest?
02:12Like, what kind of beating has your body taken over the years from all this?
02:18Yeah, I actually feel okay.
02:19I'm just really, really tired.
02:21Tired.
02:22But, like, physically, I feel okay.
02:24I actually feel really lucky compared to a lot of the other folks that I've, like, met
02:29because I really enjoy going to the finish line and, like, cheering in folks.
02:33And after this race in particular, I've had to do a ton of interviews.
02:37So I guess that's been my recovery.
02:39But, you know, I've been chatting with other people and, like, looking at their feet
02:44and, like, watching them try to get up from a chair.
02:46It's just like, holy crap.
02:47I think I'm actually very lucky in that regard because, you know, my feet feel okay.
02:53And I'm just really sleepy because I haven't – I woke up at 4 a.m. yesterday to go watch
03:01one of my friends finish, which isn't exactly conducive to recovery.
03:05But whatever.
03:07I'll sleep next week.
03:08I'll sleep next week.
03:09It's kind of our theory and news, too, although we're not running while we're doing this.
03:12All right.
03:12So we're three days.
03:13I think you took three 10-minute naps.
03:16You averaged a 13-minute pace.
03:19And I understand mashed potatoes played a huge role.
03:22You want to talk us through, like, how you get through this?
03:25I can't believe you don't really sleep.
03:27How do you get your body to do that?
03:31I don't know, to be honest with you.
03:34I don't know.
03:35But, yeah, I slept for five minutes, actually.
03:40So it was a five-minute nap, and then I took two seven-minute naps.
03:45But my goal this year, last year, I slept for, I think, probably, like, 30 minutes.
03:50And then the year previous, because I've done this race quite a lot,
03:54the year prior, I slept for about three hours.
03:57Kind of spread out throughout the, over the course of, like, three days, basically.
04:03But, yeah, I don't know how, I don't actually know how anybody does this,
04:08to be honest with you.
04:09But when you have to, you figure it out.
04:12So, and, you know, for me, the way that I frame doing this race is, like,
04:17you know, our objective is to try to get to Flagstaff fastest.
04:20And so anything that I'm doing that is not, not running, directing me towards Flagstaff
04:26is, like, not helping me accomplish my goal.
04:30So, yeah, a lot of caffeine abuse, probably.
04:34But, and then, yeah, I make a joke that a lot of the foods that I like eating are just
04:39beige.
04:39Um, so I eat a lot of things, like rice, and rice and mashed potatoes, um, are really good
04:46during things like this.
04:48Can you take us into the mind of Rachel Interkin during this race?
04:51I remember reading a piece, I think it was in the New York Times, about another ultra
04:53in Tennessee, famous one.
04:56And, like, you do it, and you kind of go through this amazing, like, psychological moment
05:01where, like, uh, I mean, I've stayed up late, you know, through the night, and that has an
05:06effect on me, like, not speaking coherently and thinking straight.
05:09Um, like, what is going through your mind, uh, as you hit, like, day two of this, and you
05:14have, you've slept for five minutes total?
05:15Are you, is it a mantra?
05:17Is it, are you totally out of body?
05:18Like, what's happening?
05:20Um, I guess every, every year, I've probably come up with some sort of mantra.
05:26Um, last year, I remember my mantra was just get to Flagstaff.
05:31So anytime I was frustrated or, like, felt like I was going slow or just, like, wanted
05:36to quit, it was like, nope, like, you signed up for this because you want, you want to see
05:41what happens when you are pushed to your limits.
05:44And, like, the first year I did this race, um, I won this race.
05:47I've won this race, I guess, every year that I've done it.
05:50Um, and I remember I got to the finish line, and I was so, I was unbelievably tired.
05:56Um, and I'd never experienced that type of fatigue before, and I, I was just really
06:01grumpy, and I was really, like, ungrateful for, like, what had just happened.
06:05Um, and I didn't like that.
06:08Um, and so every year since, um, one of my goals has just been to, like, have a better
06:14attitude.
06:14And I do think that that's something that you can choose.
06:17Um, and I think that this race is a really excellent setting for me to practice being
06:23happy when all things should indicate I need to go to sleep.
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