Build your Cocodona 250 plan
The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so this one comes from the coach itself. Tell it your race date, your weekly mileage, and the terrain you can get to, and it writes the whole build and keeps adapting it as you log the training. Free account, no card. You are about 27 weeks out.
- Distances
- 408K
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Field
- More than 1,300 runners across the five Cocodona distances in 2026
- Taper starts
- April 14, 2027
Course
The Cocodona 250 course
A 253.5-mile point-to-point journey across central Arizona, starting at 5:00 AM at Deep Canyon Ranch in Black Canyon City and finishing at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. The route links Crown King, Prescott, Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood and Sedona on a mix of desert singletrack, old mining roads, forest trail and short road sections, climbing from Sonoran desert through the Bradshaw Mountains and Mingus Mountain to the red rocks of Sedona and the pines below the San Francisco Peaks.
Read the full course notes
Total gain is about 38,900 feet against 34,000 feet of descent, from a low of about 2,000 feet to a high of 9,241 feet. There are 21 aid stations and 4 water drops, a 125-hour time limit, and from 2027 the 250 uses a lottery, while the shorter Cocodona races cover sections of the same route.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 408K
- Field
- More than 1,300 runners across the five Cocodona distances in 2026
- Weather on race day
- Early May usually means hot days in the low desert, often in the 80s to 90s °F around Black Canyon City and Sedona, and cold nights in the high country, near or below freezing on the climbs toward Flagstaff. Plan for a 60 °F swing within a day: carry heat gear and warm layers, and adjust your fuelling and fluids to each section.
What to train for
Over five days on your feet, staying strong to the end beats speed: build back-to-back and back-to-back-to-back long days with lots of power hiking on steep, rocky climbs and long descents on technical ground.
Practise sleep strategy, such as short naps in training blocks, and eating real food while moving.
Train in heat and on night trails with your headlamp, and rehearse foot care and gear changes so small problems never become race-ending ones.
Sample week
A sample Cocodona 250 training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 10 × 2 min up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 8 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 18–20 mi on trail, with as much climbing as you can find
- Sunday Key session
- Second long day, 10–12 mi easy on tired legs
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Cocodona 250
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on May 2, 2027, your taper starts around April 14, 2027.
Cocodona 250 training questions
How long should I train for the Cocodona 250?
Most runners give a 408k race twenty to twenty-four weeks of focused training on top of a season of consistent aerobic mileage. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Cocodona 250 course hilly?
Hilly. A 253.5-mile point-to-point journey across central Arizona, starting at 5:00 AM at Deep Canyon Ranch in Black Canyon City and finishing at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff.
What is the weather usually like at the Cocodona 250?
Early May usually means hot days in the low desert, often in the 80s to 90s °F around Black Canyon City and Sedona, and cold nights in the high country, near or below freezing on the climbs toward Flagstaff. Plan for a 60 °F swing within a day: carry heat gear and warm layers, and adjust your fuelling and fluids to each section.
When should I start tapering for the Cocodona 250?
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on May 2, 2027, your taper starts around April 14, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Cocodona 250 training plan?
For this one, yes. The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so an ultra plan comes from the coach itself, which needs a free account. Still no card, and the plan adapts as you log the training.