During May of 2022, Flight Phase athlete, ultrarunner Tom Attard from Missoula, Montana, completed the grueling Cocodona 250-mile race. He ran for five days across the deserts and mountains of Arizona despite unimaginable setbacks and challenges. In this interview, Tom shares incredible insights into the world of 200+ mile racing.
By Kristina Pattison DPT, OCS, CSCS
Last year at this time you ran and finished the Cocodona 250-mile race across Arizona. What are your top three most rewarding memories you have from completing that event?
Last year when I ran the Cocodona 250, I was determined to finish. I attempted the race with no pacers and only my wife and 5-year-old son as my crew. I thought I could go it alone, I was wrong. My top three most rewarding memories are meeting Dave Duran “Duranasaurus rex” at 3 am in the mountains outside Sedona. We both had been lost for around 30 minutes and just happened to find each other at the exact moment we got back on course. I haven’t laughed as hard as I did for those 7 hours of darkness, since. I found a kindred spirit of dorkiness and dad jokes in the darkness. We laughed, we cried, we bonded over our dysfunctions. We had both been divorced, and remarried twice, lost a younger brother in an accident, both were raised in extremely religious households, etc., etc., etc. I made a potentially lifelong friend along the way and that night flew by. I love Dave. The race isn’t always about the running. Everything I do is always about the relationships I create along the way.
My second most rewarding memory is when I accidentally fell asleep for 90 minutes while sitting in the shade, leaned up against a tree. The sweepers woke me up to tell me that If I wanted to continue in the race I had better wake up and start running ASAP. When I jumped up to start running, a horizontal white line appeared across my quad. I almost collapsed. I couldn’t bend my leg. I was hobbling. My quad was completely locked up. I had to use my trekking poles as crutches to take a step. But, I did take a step, and then another. For the next 6 hours, over the course of twelve miles, I stayed one step in front of the sweepers. I was last, or second to last, for most of this leg of the race. I called my wife to let her know I would drop the race. I told her to pick me up at Fort Tuthill, I was done, 205 miles was my max…and she said, “Would you like a pacer? Because I found you one.” I didn’t think she understood, so I repeated myself. “I found you a pacer and crew on the Cocodona Facebook group. Do you want to try to keep going?” was her response. Her belief in me was stronger than my belief in me, and at that moment, that was all I needed. “Yes, let’s do it,” I said. I snapped back into action. I called my Coach Kristina to make sure she didn’t think I would do any permanent damage to my body. Per her advice I ordered a wrap and ice to be ready. I requested everything I needed and wanted. I was ready to try.
I learned that I could keep going, even when I didn’t believe in myself, as long as someone else believed in me. All it takes is one person to change your mind. Having that person there is crucial.
—Tom Attard on running Cocodona 250mi
My third most rewarding memory was when two strangers, Liz and Melissa, from Detroit, Michigan, came to crew and pace me. They had missed the cutoff at Munds Park, at mile 175, and wanted to continue. The positivity and energy they brought to my race was limitless. The efficiency and determination and willingness to do what I asked, shocking. I met them at Fort Tuthill and started barking commands. They loaded my pack, got me food, everything. The turn around was amazingly fast. I told Liz, my pacer, it required 12 minutes per mile pace to reach Walnut canyon by 1 am. I told her to slap me if I slowed down. I told her to force me to eat every 30 minutes and to monitor my drinking. She was a drill Sargent. She had music. She had pre-workout. She told stories. She distracted me from the pain. All this with borrowed shoes, two sizes too big for her, and her feet covered in blisters and tape. She saved me, she saved my race. And when she knew she couldn’t keep up to Walnut canyon, she had a sweeper push me in. I arrived with 7 minutes to spare. Melissa had my pack packed and ready and every piece of edible substance available. She followed me out with 2 minutes to spare. A 5 minute turn-around is impossibly fast. Only 2 minutes to spare. She stood in the brush for 30 minutes while I took a nap, with two alarms. She made me stand up and move. I owe my entire race to these two. I never would have made it without them. Ultra racing is a community sport. A team sport. Liz was so tough, that she spent the next three days hiking the entire course with her hamburger feet, and I am proud to say, she was the last finisher, the DFL (Dead Fucking Last) finisher this year. A truly epic chic. And now she is attempting Tahoe 200 in the same year. No man is an island. Not even me.
Cocodona had some last minute course changes due to fires last year, and is known for scorching Arizona heat in the valleys. What were the top three challenges you faced while running 250 miles across the desert?
My top three challenges were…heat, boredom and loneliness.
HEAT—I found that covering every inch of skin was way better than sunscreen or bare skin. Sun gloves, sun sleeves, sun hat with neck curtain and a cooling towel. Getting everything wet every chance I got and filling my sleeves and neck gator with ice.
BOREDOM—Conversations, Vlogging, eating, phone calls, audio books, and long form podcasts
LONELINESS—More conversation, prayer
Preparing for a 250-mile event is a project in itself. How did you prepare to run that far?
Preparation kind of took over my life and hobbies for awhile. I focused on long multi-day efforts to practice eating, filtering water, and napping. I fit runs into everything. I did all my big days alone to get used to the loneliness.
What would you say went well in terms of race execution at Cocodona?
Nutrition, foot care, and finishing. My nutrition was on point. I only lost 2 pounds. I ate around 6000 calories per day with no upset stomach. I used a timer to eat every 30 minutes.
My foot-care was my best yet. Changing shoes and socks, keeping dryish and cleanish feet. I only got one small blister. I owe it all to the book Fixing Your Feet and the month of foot-care I did before the race. Trimming and filing nails, pumicing my feet and using moisturizer.
Finishing was the goal and I got it done by never ever ever giving up.
Tom Attard on Cocodona 250
What did not go well or could have gone better or would you do differently next time?
I would not have slept the first night. I would have used two alarms when sleeping. I would have tried harder to get more pacers.
Will you go back? And what other events are you planning for this year?
I may go back, but not until I finish the Triple Crown of 200s. I am training for the Bigfoot 200 on August 11th-15th, 2023.