Cocodona 250: A collective ritual in ultra running

When May comes we acknowledge the passing of another year. Spring doesn’t taste like winter anymore. The days get longer and the trails dustier. Bank holidays give space for long runs and adventures ahead of summer. While everything outdoors is awake and bright, for many the first week of May means endless hours of watching a YouTube livestream. Or better, the Cocodona 250 live stream.

Cocodona 250 is the prime race when it comes to 200 milers at the moment. It is not the oldest. It might not be the hardest. Its course might not be the most memorable. All things that don’t matter in the world of ultra running where races establish themselves as pinnacle of the sport for obscure and unpredictable reasons, establishing rituals in the lives of runners and fans. Moments that bring together people and signal the belonging to a community. Reading Keith’s tweets about the Barkley Marathon. Being in Chamonix during UTMB Week. Watching the Western States lottery draw. The Cocodona live stream.

Cocodona 250 starts today and it will permeate spectators' lives for days. Sometimes being the main focus of their attention, while most times being in the background during working from home hours, reading, running or anything else our daily lives require us to do. In this sense, the length of the event creates a unique experience that can’t be replicated by any other televised event where times are condensed and missing one minute can result in the complete loss of entertainment. Because of its length and slowness - despite becoming faster and faster - Cocodona sublimates and stretches the collective experience that Western States and UTMB condense in less than 20 hours. An amount of time that is ridiculously long for canonical sport events, but a sprint compared to 250 miles.

The media success of the race lies in the livestream that covers almost its entire length. Commentators alternate behind the mic together with guests to analyze the latest updates, interact with the fans and keep the hype high as the race unfolds during the week. Despite the video coverage keeps being extended to more portions of the route and with higher quality images - thank you Aravaipa! - , the live stream retains the voids typical of the ultra running events where nothing remarkable is being shown for hours and the audience is left to speculate about what might or might not happen somewhere between two aid stations. In these voids the live chat takes over. Live spectators entertain themselves. Through their comments they can direct the flow of the livestream bringing up topics for the commentators or even providing updates about the race. For a viewer, reading the live chat is part of the entertainment experience and it is often necessary to fully understand what is happening on the screen or being said by commentators - or simply to have an extra laugh. 

Following the race remotely becomes a collective experience at the same level as living it through the Arizona desert. Users' activity during the live stream blends the unilateral activity of watching a sport event passively with the active action of commenting live the event itself. Everything happens in the same space and it is not spread between different social media or group chats. Like being with your running buddies in your living room or with the friends of a lifetime in your town’s bar. With the passing of time and unfolding of the race, YouTube usernames become Cocodona personalities known within the audience. You can be the data guy. You can be the troll. You can be the guy who answers all the questions about the live tracking. In this virtual space you acquire the personality you want and be known for it only during this specific race and for this specific niche audience. 

Despite the live viewers being in the order of thousands during most of the livestream, the nature of the race still makes it feels like sharing this moment with the nerd niche of ultra running fans. So, a niche of a niche of a niche. A niche that is becoming bigger every year thanks to the popularity of running as a whole but, mainly, to Cocodona importance in ultra running. If initially the competitive level of the race was low, last year's edition couldn’t go unnoticed with many high profile names fighting for the win. This year, the best ultra runner in the world, Courtney Dauwalter, will be at the start line looking to add another major win to her career.

The Cocodona ritual starts today, like every year. Evolving and changing but maintaining its core pillars. This phenomenon was generated by the trail running community itself building on the platform - the livestream - provided by the event - Cocodona. Events establish themselves through their communities, made of athletes and fans. If the best athletes are giving more importance to Cocodona, its community elevates the race's resonance and impact. Like many fans around the world, today we open the YouTube live stream and we come together to follow crazy people running 250 miles.