USA&rsquo;s Camille Herron added eight kilometres to her own world best time to win the women&rsquo;s race at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships in Albi, France, on 26-27 October.
The 2018 IAU International Athlete of the Year covered 270.116km during the race, which was held on a 1.5km loop surrounding the Terrain Honneur Stadium, breaking the world best of 262.193km she had set in December last year. She also led the US to their fifth consecutive victory in the women&rsquo;s team race with a combined distance of 746.132km, winning by 25 kilometres.
Aleksandr Sorokin became Lithuania&rsquo;s first ever medallist at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships, winning the men&rsquo;s title in a national record of 278.972km and adding a kilometre to the championship record.
USA won the men&rsquo;s team title with a combined time of 799.754km, another championship record, in what was the biggest IAU 24 Hour World Championships to date with 45 member federations taking part.
Herron led for the duration of the women&rsquo;s race. She started to break away from the rest of the pack after the first three hours and had covered a marathon distance &ndash; 42.195km &ndash; in about 3:21.
Radka Churanova of the Czech Republic was her closest opponent during the early stages but still trailed Herron by more than four kilometres after four hours of running. Herron maintained a consistent pace, ranging between 4:43 and 4:46 per kilometre, for the next few hours.
Although her pace dropped slightly, Herron was ahead of most of the men&rsquo;s field and found herself gaining on Sorokin, the overall leader, as she approached the half-way point of the competition. After 12 hours of running, Herron had covered 146.221km, putting her 12 kilometres ahead of the second-placed woman, which was now Nele Alder-Baerens of Germany.
Having been passed by Alder-Baerens, Churanova was soon overtaken by Poland&rsquo;s Malgorzata Pazda-Pozorska and Japan&rsquo;s Aiko Kanematsu. Further back, defending champion Patrycja Bereznowska led a small chase pack that included USA&rsquo;s Pam Smith and Denmark&rsquo;s Stine Rex.
While Sorokin &ndash; and the other eventual medallists in the men&rsquo;s contest &ndash; pulled away from Herron in the second half, she continued to extend her advantage in the women&rsquo;s race. After little more than 14 hours of running, she had covered the equivalent of four marathons (168.78km). After 20 hours, Herron had covered 228.226 and had a 10.5-kilometre lead over Alder-Baerens.
Herron added another 12.07km to her total distance in the final hour of the race and finished with a combined distance of 270.116km. Alder-Baerens maintained her position to finish second with 254.288m while Bereznowska broke away from Smith and Rex in the closing stages to take bronze with 247.724km.
It was Herron's third individual IAU world title, following the gold medals she won over 50km and 100km in 2015.
In the men&rsquo;s race, France&rsquo;s Erik Clavery led for the first eight hours, followed by Sorokin and Spain&rsquo;s Ivan Penalva Lopez. Sorokin moved into the lead after nine hours and by the half-way point he had a 1.5km advantage over Clavery.
Clavery managed to hold on to second place for another seven hours, but he and Penalva Lopez were overtaken by Hungary&rsquo;s Tamas Bodis before the 20-hour mark. With little more than an hour left, USA&rsquo;s Olivier Leblond moved into a medal position, bumping Clavery and Penalva Lopez into fourth and fifth respectively.
Sorokin took the title with a distance of 278.972 with Bodis holding on for silver and Leblond taking bronze.
<h3>Leading results</h3>
Men 1 Aleksandr Sorokin (LTU) 278.972km 2 Tamas Bodis (HUN) 276.222km 3 Olivier Leblond (USA) 275.485km
Team 1 USA 799.754km 2 Hungary 782.241km 3 France 779.076km
Women 1 Camille Herron (USA) 270.116km 2 Nele Alder-Baerens (GER) 254.288km 3 Patrycja Bereznowska (POL) 247.723km
Team 1 USA 746.132km 2 Poland 721.124km 3 Germany 696.846km

USA’s Camille Herron added eight kilometres to her own world best time to win the women’s race at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships in Albi, France, on 26-27 October.

Herron sets world best to win IAU 24 Hour World Championships

American runners Tony Migliozzi and Camille Herron took the gold medals at the inaugural IAU 50km World Championships, crossing the line in 2:52:08 and 3:20:59 respectively on Friday (4).The men&rsquo;s race started with a big group of runners running in a pack from the start with Migliozzi, Kenyan trio of Arnold Kiptaoi, Samuel Ongaki and Charles Wachira, USA&rsquo;s Tyler Andrews and Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Michael Fokorani in the mix during the first half of the race.On the fifth lap, Fokorani and Wachira started to put daylight between themselves and their rivals and passed the 25km mark in an unofficial halfway split of 1:25:57 with Migliozzi 16 seconds in arrears in third place and Kiptaoi another two seconds further back.The leading pair stayed together for the next 10km, passing 35km in 1:58:31 and increasing their advantage slightly over Migliozzi to 20 seconds. However, unlike his two African rivals, Migliozzi had timed his race to perfection and on the eight lap started to close and then overhauled Wachira and Fokorani, who were eventually to fall back to fourth and seventh respectively.Migliozzi hit 40km in front in 2:16:38 with Wachira 10 seconds further back and the flagging Fokrani losing even more ground. Over the final 10km, Migliozzi continued to maintain a fine pace, clocking 17:21 and 17:52 for the final two 5km laps on the Aspire grounds.Migliozzi crossed the line in 2:52:08 to win by more than three minutes. Kiptaoi and Ongaki moved up in the final 5km, both men overtaking the struggling Wachira, to take second and third in 2:55:34 and 2:56:15 respectively and edge their compatriot out of the medals.With three men in the top four, Kenya comfortably won the men&rsquo;s team gold medals in an accumulated time of 8:49:09, USA second in 8:57:52 and Australia third 9:37:51.One of the pre-race favourite, Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Shingirai Badza, was part of the main leading group through to 15km but started to fall out of contention on the fourth lap and eventually finished a disappointing 15th.Unlike Badza, in the women&rsquo;s race Camille Herron certainly did like up to her pre-race billing and fulfil her role as favourite.In sharp contrast to the men&rsquo;s race, Herron taking an early lead never relinquishing it and increasing her advantage lap-by-lap. Consistently clocking under 20 minutes per lap over the first half of the race, she reached the 25km mark in 1:38:28Caitlin Smith held second place throughout the first half of the race, but was almost two minutes adrift of her compatriot by 25km and soon started to pay the price for her audacious early effort, finally finishing sixth.Even though Herron&rsquo;s slowed down slightly over the second half of the race, her advantage over her rivals continued to grow by the lap but behind her a fascinating battle for the other medals was developing.A four-woman group of Croatia&rsquo;s Marija Vrajic, Canada&rsquo;s Catrin Jones, Ireland&rsquo;s Catriona Jennings and Mongolia&rsquo;s Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh had been running together for the first half of the race and gradually reeled in Smith.Shortly after 35km, Vrajic and Jones broke away and were still together well into the final lap, until Vrajic just managed to edged away and take the silver medal in 3:28:15 with Jones four seconds further back. In the women&rsquo;s team contest, Vrajic climbed the podium again after leading Croatia to the women&rsquo;s team title with an accumulated time of 10:50:08. Canada took the silver in 11:10:41 and Australia was third in 11:31:40.Phil Minshull and IAU for the IAAF

American runners Tony Migliozzi and Camille Herron took the gold medals at the inaugural IAU 50km World Championships, crossing the line in 2:52:08 and 3:20:59 respectively on Friday (4).

USA's Migliozzi and Herron take gold at the IAU 50km World Championships

The inaugural IAU 50km World Championships takes place in Doha, Qatar, on Friday (4) with Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Shingirai Badza and USA&rsquo;s 2015 100km world champion Camille Herron starting as the pre-race favourites. Badza is having had a stellar season and won the Deloitte Challenge Marathon in the South African city of Durban earlier this year. Zachary Ornelas has had a good year as well, having run 2:52:16 at the US championships while the Netherlands&rsquo; Harm Sengers finished on the podium in last year&rsquo;s 50km World Trophy Final and ran 2:53:48 to win on home soil at the famous Winschoten 50km this year. Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Mike Fokorani and Germany&rsquo;s Niels Bubel are other names to look out for having also produced good performances in 2015.In the women&rsquo;s field, the newly-crowned 100km world champion Camille Herron will be leading the field. Interestingly, her best 50km, which stands at 3:24:55, was a halfway split in her win at the world championships in September.Australia&rsquo;s Kelly Ann Varey, with 3:31:55 to her name this year, and Croatia&rsquo;s 2015 100km world championships bronze medallist Marija Vrajic should also be in contention for a place on the podium.Canada&rsquo;s Catrin Jones, last year&rsquo;s bronze medallist from the 50km World Trophy Final, Croatia&rsquo;s Nikolina Sustic are among the other names that stand out on the entry list while Ireland&rsquo;s London 2012 Olympic Games marathon representative Catriona Jennings will be making her ultra debut.The inaugural championships will take place on the Aspire grounds in Doha over a 5km loop. IAU for the IAAF

The inaugural IAU 50km World Championships takes place in Doha, Qatar, on Friday (4) with Zimbabwe’s Shingirai Badza and USA’s 2015 100km world champion Camille Herron starting as the pre-race favourites. 

Badza and Herron the favourites for the IAU 50km World Championships 

After taking the silver medal at four of the past five IAU 100km World Championships, Sweden&rsquo;s Jonas Buud finally got to stand on top of the podium at the 28th edition of the event, which this year was held in the Dutch town of Winschoten on Saturday (12).Buud, 41, took the lead at 63km, on the seventh of 10 10km laps, going past USA's James Walmsley who had led almost from the gun. Buud just kept extending his lead all the way to the finish line, eventually crossing the line in 6:22:44.The Swede&rsquo;s time was a national record and a huge personal best by more than five minutes, moving him up to 12th on the all-time list for the distance.He finished more than 13 minutes in front of Spain&rsquo;s silver medallist Asier Cuevas. Between 60km and 70km, Cuevas had moved up from fourth to second but once in that position the European champion lost more than three minutes per lap on Buud over the final 30km as the Swede disappeared into the distance.Nevertheless, Cuevas still crossed the line in a personal best of 6:35:49, just over three minutes faster than he had ever done before, to get his first medal on a global stage after finishing fourth in 2012.Three-time world champion Giorgio Calcaterra took the bronze medal exactly one minute behind Cuevas, passing Russia's Vasiliy larkin on the last lap to take his fifth medal at these championships after winning in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and taking another bronze in 2010.Buud rose to the top of the podium for a second time a little later after getting his own individual gold medal as he made a significant contribution to Sweden taking a surprising gold medal in the team competition with their top three men having a combined time of 19:59:40.In a close contest for the silver, Russia were second with 20:30:29 and Italy third with 20:32:29.The top three finishers in the global competition also ended up taking the same medals in the concurrent European Championships, and it was the same for the teams.In the women&rsquo;s race, USA&rsquo;s Camille Herron fulfilled her role of pre-event favourite for the third US win in the past six editions, following in the footsteps of Kami Semick in 2009 and Amy Sproston in 2012. Herron had run 7:26:24 at the Mad City 100km earlier this year, more than 10 minutes faster than any other entrant in the past three years, and was in the lead from the end of the first lap.She was in a different class from everybody else during the rest of the race and had a 10-minute advantage over her nearest rival, Sweden&rsquo;s 2012 silver medallist Kajsa Berg, at the halfway point.Herron continued her relentless running over the second 50km and crossed the line in 7:08:35, the fourth fastest time ever and a personal best by almost 18 minutes.Berg focused on her own running and after the gap between her and Herron had grown to 12 minutes at 60km, she didn&rsquo;t let it increase further. She crossed the line in 7:20:48, completing a good day for Sweden with another national record, and a personal best by almost 20 minutes.It moved her up to eighth on the world all-time list for this distance and, into the bargain, also took the European title.Having a strong run in the second half of the race, coming through from well outside the medal positions, Marija Vrajic brought Croatia its first ever individual medal in this championships when she crossed the line in a national record of 7:27.11, which was also a personal best by just over 10 minutes.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

After taking the silver medal at four of the past five IAU 100km World Championships, Sweden’s Jonas Buud finally got to stand on top of the podium at the 28th edition of the event, which this year was held in the Dutch town of Winschoten on Saturday (12).

Buud finally gets gold at IAU 100km World Championships

Vasiliy Larkin is the fastest runner in the field for the 28th IAU 100km World Championships, which will take place in the Dutch town of Winschoten, and he will be aiming to become the first Russian man to win the annual championship in a decade on Saturday (12).Larkin&rsquo;s best time of 6:18:26 dates back two years to the Ispitai Sebia Ultramarathon in 2013 but the 24-year-old runner was also just over the six-hour mark at the famous Comrades Marathon in South Africa this year.Not since Gregoriy Murzin won in 2005 has a Russian stood on top of the podium, with Italian and Japanese runners taking the majority of the titles, three apiece.All of those Italian victories &ndash; in 2008, 2011 and 2012 &ndash; were by Giorgio Calcaterra, now 43, who has shown good form this year by winning the 100km del Passatore on home soil earlier this year. Two other potential contenders for the gold medal, in the absence of the USA&rsquo;s 2014 champion Max King, are Great Britain&rsquo;s Steven Way and Sweden&rsquo;s Jonas Buud, who have best times in the last three years of 6:19:20 and 6:28:57 respectively. Way has recently moved up from predominantly running marathons to ultrarunning while Buud has taken the silver medal at four of the last five 100km world championships and will finally be looking to make the move to the top of the podium.Another well-known name in the field is the 2014 bronze medallist, Spain&rsquo;s Jose Antonio Requejo. In the men&rsquo;s team race, Japan are the favourites with Great Britain and Spain also having strong teams. Great Britain&rsquo;s Ellie Greenwood is not defending the title she won 12 months ago in Doha, which leaves the door open for the 2014 silver and bronze medallists, Japan&rsquo;s Chiyuki Mochizuki and Great Britain&rsquo;s Jo Zakrzewski, to move up.However, the possible favourite is USA&rsquo;s Camille Herron. She ran 7:26:24 at the Mad City 100km earlier this year, and is more than 10 minutes faster than any other entrant on recent form over the last three years. Russia&rsquo;s 2011 world champion Marina Zhalybina will also be in the field, alongside her teammate Irina Antrapova, and Zhalybina knows Winschoten well after having won when the Dutch city staged the championships four years ago.In the team competition, Nikolina Sustic will be leading a very fast Croatian team while Japan, Great Britain and Sweden also have good medal chances.Around 240 runners representing 37 countries will do 10 laps of a relatively flat 10km course in Winschoten, which has been the venue for a long-standing annual ultrarunning event dating back to 1976 and has also staged these championships five times in the past, most recently in 2011.This year&rsquo;s race also has a number of other concurrent championships: the 23rd IAU European Championships, 100km World Masters Championships and the Dutch Championships. Phil Minshull and the IAU for the IAAF

Vasiliy Larkin is the fastest runner in the field for the 28th IAU 100km World Championships, which will take place in the Dutch town of Winschoten, and he will be aiming to become the first Russian man to win the annual championship in a decade on Saturday (12).