By day, 33-year-old Josh Frewin, is the city of Sedona’s Parks and Recreation Department manager. By night, and often by day again — he’s an ultramarathon runner, competing in races that go well beyond the “mere” 26.2 miles of a marathon.

“What I’ve learned from this is that we can do what we set our minds to even when things seem crazy and impossible,” Frewin said. “I know this is kind of a cliche answer but 250 miles seems impossible, but if you just keep moving and keep progressing and get to that next spot, we’re capable of a lot more than we can give ourselves credit for.”

Earlier this month, Frewin completed the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon race, which runs from Black Canyon City down Whiskey Row in Prescott, up Mingus Mountain through Jerome and Sedona, around Munds Park and Mountainaire to Flagstaff.

After starting at 5 a.m. on May 5, Frewin finished the race on May 9, in 101 hours and 41 minutes, placing 60th in his first year competing.

Frewin grew up in Payson and attended Greenville University in Illinois, where he played football as a kicker and punter and earned a degree in parks and recreation management in 2013 before working in Morenci and Cottonwood as well as Sedona. He is married to Mary Frewin with two young daughters, Mayccee, 5, and Brynlee, 3.

The couple met through friends in 2012 and were married in 2015. And Frewin noted Mary was the one who asked him out, and for their first date, they went to a Diamondbacks game against the Nationals.

“I tried to get as much time on trails as I could, especially on the Cocodona trail when possible,” Frewin said of his training regimen, which also included weight training and cycling. “But mostly I was trying to run on trails, and averaged between 50 and 70 miles a week.”

He also ran the Mesquite Canyon 50 Miler in Waddell on March 8, where he placed fifth with a time of 11 hours and 20 minutes.

Frewin said that ultramarathons were a new hobby for him, which he took up in 2021 to stay active and maintain a sense of competition.

“I never thought I would be doing ultramarathons, but I started out on those smaller distances, I did a marathon but found trail running was so much more enjoyable than running on a road,” Frewin said. “I volunteered at the Cocodona 250 the last four years working at aid stations … and seeing people come into the stations, blisters and destroyed and tired, and just eat some food and keep going was inspiring. I made it a goal of mine to try and do this event and I finally made it happen. And it was such a cool opportunity to do, but it’s also the hardest thing ever.”

For Frewin, the route was made even more challenging by the unexpected weather. Going into the event, he had anticipated the intense heat that typically characterizes the early sections of the race from Black Canyon to Crown King and through Cottonwood to Sedona. Instead he was met with the complete opposite with rain, cold and muddy trails.

“The worst part was the stretch coming down from the Mingus Church Camp on top of Mingus Mountain down to Jerome,” Frewin said. “We did that Tuesday night, and it was just pouring rain and muddy, and it was a very slow, muddy, 17-mile stretch through there. That was a struggle.”

He nevertheless described that stretch as a favorite part of the experience for him because he was running alongside ultrarunner social media personality Andrew Glaze.

“It was wild seeing other runners stopping to take photos with [Glaze],” Frewin said. “But more than that, it was great spending time with someone who really understands the insanity of races like this.”

During the race, Frewin said, he slept for about five hours in all, typically in 15-minute naps in the dirt with longer rests of an hour in Jerome and another 90 minutes at Foxboro Ranch on Schnebly Hill Road.

“It’s amazing what a quick 15 minutes can do,” Frewin said. “You can get up and at least not be falling asleep while you’re moving again. And now, it sounds crazy talking about it afterwards, but during it, it was just like, here’s what we got to do to keep moving forward. There’s stretches where it’s like, ‘I don’t know how this is ever going to end, or how we’re ever going to make it to this next [stop].’”

Despite blisters and sore feet, Frewin said his body held up remarkably well throughout the race, crediting a mid-race massage at the Mingus Camp to help loosen his muscles and another at the finish line.

“They had massage tables and sports physical therapists at the end,“ Frewin said. “I laid a massage table as they were stretching me out, and fell asleep immediately. So it was a good crash at the end.”

“I definitely want to keep doing a few of these races but it might be a bit before I do one this length again,” Frewin said. “But I definitely want to keep doing these and exploring the trails. It’s been cool afterwards to see how many people have reached out to me and said, ‘That’s so cool. I want to get into running, and I want to try this.’”

“Go for it but maybe start with some smaller ones, and build your way up,” Frewin advised them. “But just find something you love to do, even if it’s not ends up not being the trail running side, get into biking or swimming or triathlon, or find something that you love doing and keep pushing for it. Sports don’t need to stop after you’re a kid.”