Aleksandr Sorokin has bettered his own 100 mile World Best, clocking under 6:30/mile, and carried on to run nearly 110 miles in 12 hours.  

At the Spartanion 12 hour race in Israel, the rumour was that the Lithuanian world record holder for 12 and 24 hour races was out to better his own 12 hour mark. To do so he would be very close to his 100 mile best en route.

With loops of 1460 metres per lap, Sorokin was systematically clocking off lap after lap under 6:30/mile. It wasn’t until after halfway that a few “dot-watchers” realised he was likely to not only better his own 100 mile record, but obliterate it.

The first full lap after 100 miles was 10:51:39. It looks like the 100 was actually split in about 10:48. Hopefully there’s an official mark for the distance with organisation. Unbelievably there is still another 70 minutes of running to go for the world beating 24hr runner.

“It’s the kind of break through 100 mile performance some of us have been waiting for ever since Cavin Woodward’s aggressive, courageous, and eye-opening 100 mile record run (11:38) 1975,” said ultra-running statistician Paul Kentor. “We’ve seen strong performances at 24 hours and 100 km, but few talented runners have made 100 miles on the roads/ track a serious target.”

So what does this mean for the record? “”The WR will hopefully be much closer to what it ‘should’ be” continues Kentor (@SteelTownRunner on Twitter). That said, other experts of our sport were simply speechless at learning of the ground-breaking achievement.

Where the record should be

It’s true that now the record is in the realms of what one might expect if top-end marathoners started attacking the mark. It’s not quite as simple as “a 2:10 marathoner would go faster” as Sorokin is a specialist in this style of running. The 100km world best is still “only” around 6 minute miling, just under. It’s not actually that much different in terms of pacing and Sorokin is running for nearly five more hours.

By the time this article is being read it might well be that there is a new 12 hour best too. It looks that the end of the race saw Sorokin on nearly 110 miles, but a confirmed distance will come in future.

Inspired and want to give it a crack yourself?

The Centurion Track 100 in April has elite qualifying standards and is set up to allow athletes to go after national and world records. 

The race, organised by James Elson and Centurion Running, is where Sorokin first broke the record. This year more elite ultra-runners are lining up to try and do something special, but there are places available for fast athletes who want to test themselves over the popular ultra-distance race length.

“Aleksandr looked so comfortable at our Track 100 and with close to zero drop off in pacing, it was clear then that he had so much more to give,” said Elson, who has run for Great Britain himself so has an idea of the work and effort involved.

Want to find out more about Aleksandr Sorokin?

Unbeatable 24hr World Record beaten

New World Record for 100 miles at Centurion Track 100