The Walkman, The Startup, and Cocodona 250

The Walkman, The Startup, and Cocodona 250

June 19, 2026 · 1h 9m

About this episode

Zach Hauer shares his journey from collegiate athlete to ultrarunner and entrepreneur, discussing his experiences at Cocodona 250 and the challenges of endurance racing.

Zach Hauer went from collegiate track athlete to entrepreneur, Open Fuel co-founder, Javelina 100 runner, and now Cocodona 250 finisher. In this conversation, we dive into Zach's first experience at the 250-mile distance, the highs and lows of Cocodona, sleep deprivation, aid station mistakes, and why he immediately wanted to come back after finishing. We also discuss building Open Fuel, modern endurance sports marketing, trail running culture, the balance between optimization and fun, and why Zach carried a Walkman during one of the biggest races in ultrarunning. Topics include: -Cocodona 250 -Javelina 100 -Open Fuel -Building a nutrition company -Sleep deprivation and racing -Trail running culture -Social media and marketing -The future of ultrarunning -Why people become obsessed with 200-mile races -Walkmans, unicycles, and bad business ideas Support our Sponsors: Sawyer: https://sawyerdirect.net/ Janji (code: Freeoutside): https://snp.link/a0bfb726 CS Coffee: CSinstant.coffee Garage Grown Gear: https://snp.link/db1ba8ab Subscribe to Substack: http://freeoutside.substack.com Support this content on patreon: HTTP://patreon.com/freeoutside Buy my book "Free Outside" on…

Sponsors

Sawyer, Janji, CS Coffee, Garage Grown Gear

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