Episode 33 - Keith Allison | First Try. Cocodona 250 Record. 61 Years Old.

In this episode of Run Long After 60, I sit down with Keith Allison — a 61-year-old runner from British Columbia who had never run a 200-mile race before this year.

His first attempt was the Cocodona 250.

He finished in 99 hours, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds.

That time made him the first person in the 60–69 age group in the six-year history of Cocodona to break the 100-hour mark — out of 34 finishers across all six years who ever attempted it in that age group.

He did it on his first try.

But the finish time alone doesn't tell the story.

Keith paced runners at Cocodona in 2022 and 2024. He attended training camp on the course. He drove up in a camper weeks before the race to acclimate to altitude and heat. He ran segments of the course in training until they were no longer surprises. And the runners he paced in those earlier years came back and ran him across the finish line in Flagstaff.

This was years in the making. And he always knew it would be a one-time thing.

We talk about:

• Hating running as a kid — and not starting until his 40s
• Qualifying for Boston on his second marathon ever
• Running UTMB in 2022 and IMTUF 100 before setting his sights on 250 miles
• Why he paced others at Cocodona first — and what he was really learning
• Moving up in a camper to acclimate before the race even started
• The dust that got into his lungs at mile one and never fully cleared
• Three trail-side massages — a first for him — and why the crew insisted
• The solo loop: 14 miles, no pacer, middle of the night
• The lean that showed up in the final miles and what he did about it
• Running the last stretch into Flagstaff with his entire crew beside him
• Why he won't be returning to 200-mile racing — and what comes next

Keith wasn't the only one making history that day.

Pam Reed — one of the most decorated ultrarunners in the sport's history — finished second in the age group at 69 years old, in 100:28:57. She and Keith now hold the two fastest times ever recorded in the 60–69 age group at Cocodona. Both set in the same race. Same year.

Paul James Johnson finished fifth all-time in the age group — and it was his fifth Cocodona finish. No one in this age group has done it more.

This episode is 2.5 hours long. Keith was on that course for 99.5 hours, and not a single segment deserved to be left out.

Run Long After 60 is a video-first podcast focused on running after 60, ultrarunning, longevity, and staying active later in life. If you'd like to watch the full conversation — including chapter markers for every segment of the course — you can find the video version on the Run Long After 60 YouTube channel.

🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, or Amazon Music to follow the journey.

📍 Hosted by Mark Vega