Mika Thewes has finished sixteen 200-plus mile races and she’s on the hunt for more—in fact, three more in 2026 alone. While 200-mile continues to increase in popularity worldwide, Thewes has already established herself as not just one of the most prolific racers at the distance, but also one of the most competitive. Since her first 200-mile finish at just age 24 at the 2015 Bigfoot 200, Thewes has progressed to win the Bigfoot 200 and Tahoe 200 twice, as well as finished as a consistent top finisher at several other of the world’s most challenging 200 mile races including Tor de Geants, Cocodona 250, Moab 240 and the Divide 200.
Thewes, a Janji Field Team-sponsored athlete hailing from Royal Oak, Michigan (though now living in Arvada, Colorado), is currently aiming for her fourth finish at the Cocodona 250, one of Arizona’s most iconic 200-plus mile races, organized by Aravaipa Running. She’s returning to the sport after nearly a year absence from racing. “I took time off from racing to deal with some personal issues,” said Thewes. “I’m very excited to get back to it this year and be at Cocodona for my 1,000 mile buckle.”
Distance doubler
Thewes’ journey to discovering the 200-mile distance began simply, as a way to get into shape after she entered college. Her mother, a lifelong runner, also inspired her to get into the sport and the mother, daughter duo trained together as Thewes first began taking the sport seriously, “When I first started running, my mom would run with and encourage me. I couldn’t even run two miles without stopping, and she would help me get through it.”
Thewes progressed quickly, finishing several road marathons from 2010 to 2012. While her pace improved greatly in her first years of training, Thewes realized that progressing in distance, not as much speed, became her primary goal in training, “I could either run faster and try and qualify for the Boston Marathon, or I could slow down and run farther. I had heard about these crazy races called ultramarathons, and I decided that I didn’t want to run faster as much as I wanted to see how much farther I could run—that’s when I decided to just double the distance of a marathon and shoot for a 50-mile finish.
She mentioned the idea of running ultras to her mother, “She told me how she had always wanted to run one of those races…then I kind of stole it from her.”
Thewes finished her first 50-mile race, the 2012 North Country Run 50 Miler, in Grand Rapids, MI, followed by yet another doubling in distance to finish her first 100-mile race at the 2013 Woodstock Festival 100 Miler in Pinckney, MI (finishing eleventh and seventh respectively).
Thewes remarks comically about beating her mother to her first ultramarathon finish, “I did beat her to finishing an ultra, but then I gave it back by pacing her during her first 50 miler in 2016, and her first 100 miler too, so it all worked out.”
In 2015, Thewes would double the distance a third time—moving up from the 100-mile distance to finish her first 200 mile race, the 2015 Bigfoot 200. Thewes found her sweet spot and preferred racing distance, the 200—a distance she has not since felt the need to double.
200 Mile OG
During the time Thewes ran the 2015 Bigfoot 200 and in the years that followed immediately after, 200-mile racing was a budding concept in the American ultrarunning scene.
She reflects on feelings of nostalgia, showing up to the start line of several of America’s most well-known 200 mile races with no pacers or crew, troubleshooting with friends strategies for finishing/recovering from racing, and simply running for the fun of it, “I still have extremely fond memories of racing 200s in 2015. It was just a bunch of weirdos camped out together doing this wild thing and none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. It’s an ‘old school’ feeling that I’m sure people who were racing 100 mile races in the 90s must have felt. It’s the feeling of showing up to a race where you know almost everyone.”
Thewes comments on how her experience of 200 mile races has changed, “It’s not quite the same as it used to be. The startline used to be so chill, and now people take off quickly at a six minute per mile pace. Those early days were pretty fun and I’m so glad to have been a part of that first wave of participants in some of these now more established 200 mile races.”
Training is shorter than you think
Contrary to popular thought that 200-mile racing requires vast amounts of training, Thewes has never found this necessary. “People assume that you have to perform super long runs, but the training for 200 isn’t any different than training for a 100 mile race. I don’t often run more than four or five hours in training.”
Rather than miles or time on feet, the key to 200-mile racing, according to Thewes: “Managing everything,” she explains, “you have to manage your feet, eating, sleep, etc. These habits are definitely acquired through experience.”
As a graduate level ceramist, Thewes speaks from personal experience working with sleep deprivation and continuous long hours to finish projects, “My art background honed my ability to go without sleep and focus on the task at hand. There’d be times I was working on projects for 36 hours straight, so that ability to keep going when I feel tired and need to concentrate is nothing new for me. That’s probably the biggest crossover between art and running.”
Not so Coco Loco
“What’s interesting about two hundreds is that there’s this one constant: something always goes wrong, and it goes wrong in a different way each time. Even once you think you have something figured out and that you’ve learned your lesson, your race can still go wrong in a different way.” —Mika Thewes
The Cocodona 250 has been a challenging race for Thewes, one she is still figuring out. She learned much from her four prior attempts at the race (with a fourth place finish, two third place finishes, and one DNF last year in 2025), but admits the style of race is not suited to her strengths. “I’m not the best at hot desert running. I love running on the course when it approaches Flagstaff, but the first 160 miles or so are brutal for me.”
From sleeping issues, to stomach problems, to being off course for over ten hours before finding her way back, to racing with a fractured elbow, Cocodona has many difficult memories for Thewes. But these challenges aside, Thewes looks forward to the race and returning to the highest level of competition in the 200 mile running scene, “It’s really exciting to see that the women’s field at the Cocodona 250 is so strong this year. I’m definitely feeling very excited to get back to racing, and seeing the competition grow is super motivating. It will push everyone to be faster.”
But even as Thewes looks forward to challenging herself against some of the top 200-mile runners in the world, she admits that she first seeks to reach her own time goals—and is less worried about place and who she’s in front of or behind. “It’s always appealing to race where there’s competition, but the way I always race is to set time goals and try my best to achieve what I’m capable of. I have yet to have a good race at Cocodona, and that’s a lot of times why I’ll return to races—to be able to achieve what I think I can do at the race.”
200s are NOT the new 100
While the 200-mile racing distance is certainly growing in popularity worldwide, Thewes does not believe these races are on track to overtake more traditional ultramarathon distances, such as the 100 mile. In response to the commonly used phrase, “200s are the new 100,” Thewes said, “Two hundreds are getting more popular, which I think is great, but there are some people that think it’s going to be the new 100, and I don’t think that’s the case. Two hundreds are always going to be a niche distance. There’s not enough people running them to support small scale 200s every month in the US. Even though there have been some successful new hundreds such as the Mammoth 200, most are not going to have a large draw when people are already more interested in running the classic 200s like the Moab 240 or Cocodona 250.”
Additionally, Thewes recognizes some of the major barriers to 200-mile racing that prohibits the majority of the trail running community from participating in these types of races, “The price of most of these races is prohibitive for a lot of people. It’s $1,500 to sign up for a race, then you also have to book airfare, hotels, organize a crew, train, etc. If you’re working and have a family, there’s a lot of barriers to reaching the start line.”
But 200s are continuing to cement their place in the sport of trail running. These events have their own community, one that draws participants, such as Thewes, who are interested in the unique challenges of the distance. “The specific challenges and rewards of 200s are like that of no other races. There’s something for me that you can only get out on trail for two, plus days, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s both long enough and short enough (short when compared to long fast-packing routes or trail FKTs), where you can still push your hardest and to get into a place mentally and physically that feels like beyond what you’re capable of, but also where it’s not just about speed. It’s still also about problem solving and your ability to manage everything.”
High sugar vegan
Thewes is known by many of her friends for her daily dose of sugary Starbucks coffee—a star example of her training nutrition strategy. Referred to on Instagram as @sugarcrashvegan, Thewes takes pride in using dairy-free sugar/carbs to fuel a large portion of her training.
Thewes, a vegetarian at age thirteen, “I was grossed out by meat as a kid,” went totally plant based in 2016 to improve her training and recovery. Thewes shares her thoughts on using a plant-based high-carb approach to both satisfy her training needs, as well as her ‘massive sweet tooth.’”
“The high carb kind of boom in ultrarunning has been interesting in the last few years. Whatever your diet is, I think you can make it work for two hundred races, especially now in an era where races often accommodate people with gluten free, plant-based, or different dietary restrictions. While there’s always fads that come and go, the high-carb drink mixes that have been created in the past few years have been absolutely amazing. I’ve noticed a huge difference having those extra calories in fluids. I don’t have the most clean diet, I like my sodas during long runs and I like high-sugar drinks, but when you’re training heavily I think this approach is totally fine for me.”
Stay tuned to Thewes’ upcoming race at the Cocodona 250 May 4 to 9, 2026, as well as Tor des Geants.
