Ultra Runners Aiming to Break 100k World Record

On Saturday January 23rd, 2021, at 7am in Phoenix, Arizona, 40 Hoka athletes including Jim Walmsley and Camille Herron will take on the 100k world record attempt in Hoka’s Carbon X 2 Project.

Raced on Opposite Sides of the World

Additionally, the event will take place in Chiba, Japan where the Japanese athletes, unable to travel to Arizona under Covid restrictions, will also have a crack at breaking the record. While the lineup for Japan hasn’t been released, their race will be long finished by the time the US version starts with both races starting at 7am local time.

Walmsley and Herron Hoping to Break 100K World Record

Jim Walmsley and Camille Herron, both hoping to break the 100k world record, currently hold the 50 mile world records for male and female respectively, and will take part in the Phoenix event taking place on a specially designed 11km track.

Will Walmsley go Under 6 Hours?

While the aim is to break the record, there has been some talk about whether Walmsley can equal his 50 mile WR pace to bring his time in under 6 hours. This will be quite some achievement and will require the athlete to run a 5:48 mile pace for 12 more miles than his 50 mile record. To beat the 100k world record, he will need to run at a 5:56 pace.

The current world record for 100km (62 miles) is held by Japanese ultra athletes. the male record of 6 hours 9 minutes and 14 seconds, set in 2018, is held by Nao Kazami with the female record of 6 hours 33 minutes and 11 set by Tomoe Abe in 2000.

Can Hoka’s Carbon Shoe Compete?

Similar to the Nike Breaking 2 project, Hoka are hoping that their new super shoe, the Carbon X 2 can have the same results. Walmsley, after all, did break the 50 mile record in the shoe’s predecessor the Carbon X.

Britain’s Carla Molinaro, who currently holds the LEJOG record, will also take part in Phoenix, hoping to beat the British record of 7hrs 27mins 19secs which was set way back in 1993. Her plan is to “hang on and hope she doesn’t die” – a plan we can personally identify with.

The Full Line Up

While the Japanese athletes are yet to be released, athletes that will line up to start in Phoenix, Arizona are:

To watch, go to hokaoneone.com, where the US event will be live-streamed. Coverage will start at 2pm (UK time). We know what we will be doing tomorrow afternoon!

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