Below is an excerpt from the Lap Count newsletter, posted with permission. Kyle Merber’s Lap Count newsletter both entertains and enlightens fans about athletes and happenings in our sport.
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From the Lap Count Newsletter
Most of us don’t have the desire — or ability — to continually run for a day straight and cover just shy of 200 miles in the process. Aleksandr Sorokin of Lithuania, however, is not most of us. Last summer, he took down the previous world record for the 24-hour run — the long thought to be untouchable 188.6 miles run by Yiannis Kouros in 1997 — by logging 192.2 miles.
And for reasons that completely elude me, he decided he wanted to do it again. So last weekend in Italy, Aleksandr broke his own record, going 198.6 miles at the IAU 24-Hour European Championships. That’s 7:15 pace for 24 hours, counting any stops.
Per Strava, his first mile slower than seven-minute pace occurred 89 miles in. And while you’re there, take a look at the course… oof! While I’m on the record as being opposed to major championship events being held on weird “tracks,” I think I’m willing to make an exception here.
In addition to his 24-hour record, in the past two years he also established new 100 mile (10:50:39 — 6:30 pace), 12-hour (110.2 miles), and 100km (6:05:41 — 5:53 pace) world records.
How do you possibly recharge after one of these efforts to turn around and do it again? That’s why I’d like to propose Sorokin’s new nickname be the ‘Lithuanian Battery.’
