Sarah Webster runs women’s world 24-hour record

The British ultra-distance runner ran an astonishing 278.622km in France, Adrian Stott experiences.

Sarah Webster has set a brand new girls’s world 24-hour document in successful the IAU World 24-hour Championships in Albi, France (October 19).

The world document has been damaged on the previous three IAU World Championships and Webster continued that pattern with an outstanding show of managed distance operating.

This one although will rank as one of many excellent extremely performances by a British athlete in historical past. In a discipline of world-class male 24-hour runners, solely 4 of them ran additional than Webster.

Her distance of 278.622km surpassed the prevailing document of 270.363 km set by Japan’s Miho Nakata on the final IAU championships two years in the past.

Webster handed the earlier mark with slightly below an hour to go and subsequently added over 8km to that tally.

It additionally bettered Patryca Berezknowska’s European document of 263.178 km and obliterated Jo Zakrzewski’s British document of 247.964 Km.

The British document was handed with simply over three hours to go. Subsequent adopted the European document, with slightly below two hours to go, and Nakata’s world mark was handed with slightly below an hour to go.

Girls’s podium (Adrian Stott)

Webster, the bronze medalist from the 2014 IAU World 100km championship, was operating solely her second ever 24-hour occasion. In April this yr, she ran 243.393km on the Crawley 24-hour race. She had began conservatively, and, though all the time within the high 10 early on, regularly moved by way of the sphere to take the lead round 16 hours and the 200km mark.

She regularly constructed up a lead stretching to 5km, and though noticeably tiring within the final 2 hours, held on for a memorable victory.

Australia’s Holly Ranson additionally bettered the prevailing document when inserting second with 274.172 km, A brand new Australian and Oceania document, bettering the mark of 263.548km that she had set in April 2025.

Earlier world record-holder and early race chief Nakata took the bronze medal with a distance of 271.987km. Regardless of additionally surpassing her earlier document, it would solely rank as a brand new Japanese nationwide and Asia document.

Kelsey Worth of Nice Britain ran a well-paced race to maneuver up the sphere within the second half of the race and positioned fourth with 257.129km. It has been a breakthrough yr for Worth, after successful the British 100km title in Could.

With Sophie Energy operating solidly with 232.889 km in seventeenth, it helped safe the staff title for GB & NI forward of Australia and Japan.

Males’s race

The mens race, though with none world data, was nonetheless eventful.

Early chief Pascal Reuger of Switzerland probably went out too exhausting on a comparatively scorching autumn day. He retired simply earlier than reaching 100km. This left Ukrainian Andrijj Tkachuk to take over the lead shortly after. He by no means relinquished the lead. At one level, it regarded as if he may attain so far as 300km, however was lowered to a stroll within the final hour and completed with 294.346 km, nonetheless one of many high ten, all-time male instances.

Behind him, the silver and bronze medal positions modified palms a couple of instances in the previous few hours. Ultimately, the silver medal went to Norway’s Jo-Inge Norum, who got here by way of very strongly in the previous few hours and made a giant breakthrough with 285.513km.

Finland’s Matti Jonkka took the bronze medal with 283.699km, Hungary’s Tamas Bodas was fourth with 279.780km, whereas Denmark’s Emil Krog Ingelslev positioned fifth in 278.132km. All of those 4 distances had been new nationwide data.

The occasion had a document complete of 397 entries. There have been 222 males and 175 girls from a document 47 federations. The usual at current world occasions has continued to rise and this yr was no exception.

General outcomes (males)

1.Andrijj Tkchuk (UKR) 294.346km

2.Jo Inge Norum (NOR) 285.513km

3.Matti JOnkka (FIN) 283.699km

4.Tamas Bodas (HUN) 279.780km

5.Emil Krog Ingerslev (SWE) 278.132km

6 Andrzej. Piotrowski (POL) 274.313km

General outcomes (girls)

1.Sarah Webster (GBR) 278.622km

2.Holly Ranson (AUS) 274.172km

3.Miho Nakata (JPN) 271.987km

4.Kelsey Worth (GBR) 257.129km