History is being rewritten in Australia as we type, where the US’s Camille Herron has set the 48-hour running world record — and she’s still going!
At the time of this article’s publishing, Herron has just surpassed the prior record of 411,458 kilometers (255,668 miles) at the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival being run in Bruce, Australia. The previous record was only set last month, in February 2023, by the UK’s Jo Zakrzewski at the 2023 Taipei Ultramarathon.
Roughly two hours and 50 minutes remain on the race clock, and there’s no sign that Herron will be stopping now. We’ll update this article at the race’s conclusion with Herron’s finish distance. You can also follow along to the race’s conclusion with its live timing system.
Camille Herron en route to the 48-hour world record at the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival in Australia. Photo: Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival
The race’s timing system and social media reports together indicate Herron completed the first 100 kilometers (62 miles) in about 8 hours, 50 minutes.
She then hit the 100-mile (161 kilometers) mark with about 14 hours, 41 minutes on the race clock.
Next, at 24 hours or halfway, she’d run more than 238 kilometers (148.5 miles).
The 200-mile (322 kilometers) mark came and went with 33 hours, 35 minutes on the clock.
She took a 40-minute break at the halfway point, plus several more eight- to 10-minute breaks along the way.
Camille Herron with Australian Olympic distance runner Robert de Castella before the start of the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival in Australia. Photo: Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival
The women’s 48-hour record has seen much progress in the last year. In addition to Herron’s record this weekend and Zakrzewski’s 411,458 kilometers (255,668 miles) last month, the latter of which is still so fresh it’s not ratified, Poland’s Patrycja Bereznowska set a record of 403.32 kilometers (250.611 miles) in May 2022 at the UltraPark Weekend 48 Hour in her home country.
With this performance, Herron continues to cement her place in the history of ultrarunning. She is already the current world record holder for 50 miles, 100 miles, and 24 hours.
As with all such records, the official distance and result are unofficial pending ratification by world governing bodies.
Full results from the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival.
Camille Herron en route to the 48-hour world record at the 2023 Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival in Australia. Photo: Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour Festival
