In the running world, there are some pretty amazing records. On one side, you have things like the incredible Usain Bolt and what he can do in just 9 seconds of running. On the other side, there is a completely different world of endurance and some of these records just seem superhuman. The downside – they don’t get paid anything like Usain Bolt did!
Running Records That Are Just Beyond the Mind!
I have run a bunch of ultra marathons (any distance over a marathon – 26.2 miles – typically with distances like 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 kilometers, 100 miles, 12 hour, 24 hour). Marathons can be tough enough but how about running twice that distance? My best time at the 50 mile distance was 9 hours with my best 100 kilometer time being just under 12 hours. Those times are in the normal range for sure and nothing like you are about to read!
100 Mile World Record
Zach Bitter is an ultramarathon machine! He has run some incredible 100 mile times and last weekend, he broke the world record for the 100 mile distance. His time? 11 hours, 19 minutes, and 13 seconds for 100 miles! Thanks to SteelTown on Twitter, here is a breakdown of what that looks like:
- 1st 50 miles 5:40:38
- 2nd 50 miles 5:38:35
- That equals a 2 minute negative split!
- 50K time of 3:29
- 100K time of 7:03
- 150K time of 10:35
- Average pace for 100 miles – 6:48 min/ mile.
Let’s break that down. First of all, a negative split in a race is where a runner runs the second half of a race faster than the first half. A well-trained runner will do an even or slightly negative split. Too much of a negative split is a sign that it was not a well planned/executed first half.
Zach ran a 2 minute negative split. Over the course of a 100 mile distance, that is just an insanely precise pace he was running! Normally, runners are tiring the last part of a 100 miler, but Zach’s second half was faster than his first!
Next, the pace he ran. He averaged a pace of 6 minutes and 48 seconds per mile for 100 miles. That includes whenever he may have stopped for a shoe change, bathroom stop, grabbing fuel (because you are burning thousands of calories!), or any other stops he made. This means he was actually running faster than that pace!
If you don’t think that is too fast, go outside and run as fast as you can for a mile. For most Americans, that pace will not be achieved for a mile. Now imagine running it for 100 miles!
This is the equivalent of running like four 2 hour and 58 minute marathons in a row! This broke the 100 mile world record by 9 minutes! This was done at the Six Days in the Dome event in Wisconsin this past weekend.
Congrats to Zach Bitter!
New Record at the Incredible Pikes Peak Marathon
Pikes Peak is a climb that is difficult for just about anyone! Of course, that means there is a race there! In fact, it is a marathon that has the first half of the race climbing 7,800 feet before turning around and having the second half of the race be the descent.
Many people may think that a drop like that would help to really yield a great time on the backside of the marathon. That actually is only true if you have trained and prepared for something like this! I ran St. George’s Marathon in Utah years ago and that descent of a few thousand feet can really trash your quads if you are not ready for it!
Well, Maude Mathys took the Pike Peaks Marathon in great stride, finishing the marathon as the female winner in a time of 4 hours, 2 minutes, and 41 seconds for the 26.2 mile distance. That was a time of 13 minutes faster than the previous record!
Running a 4 hour marathon at Pikes Peak is just amazing! This is especially true since Pikes Peak Marathon says that many runners can figure it will take them their regular marathon time just to complete the ascent portion of the race – otherwise known as the first 13 miles!
Maude was running for the record from the early parts of the race. At just over 7.5 miles, she was already 6 minutes ahead of the record pace! She ran the first half of the marathon in 2 hours and 29 minutes and 15 seconds.
Amazing feat, to be sure! Oh, and to make it more notable – she ran the Sierra-Zinal 31K trail race the 2 weeks before and set a course record there as well.
Congrats to Maude Mathys!
Summary
These are just two amazing records that were set by some amazing runners! Having run a difficult ascent marathon, I can totally appreciate what Maude did. Also having run 87 miles in a timed event before, I can only imagine what it was like for Zach to run the pace he did for 100 miles!
So, who wants to go out and do something active today now! 🙂
