The U.S.’s Camille Herron has set another world record, this time by running 560.330 miles (901.764 kilometers) (to be confirmed) to set a new women’s 6-day world record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER event in La Quinta, California. The event ran from March 6 through 12 to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8.
New Zealand’s Sandra Barwick set the previous record of 549.063 miles (883.631 kilometers) in Australia in 1990.
Herron thus bettered the women’s 6-day world record by more than 11 miles, and she also achieved at least 12 interim records and milestones along the way.
Her effort comes out to an average pace 15:22 per mile (9:33 per kilometer) over the entire 6 days. This, of course, includes hours of stopped time, which Herron used for sleeping, rest, eating, drinking, and more.
The race was held on a 2.55-mile loop around Lake Cahuilla made up of largely dirt. Ten women, all lululemon-sponsored athletes, started the event.
Camille Herron on her way to setting the women’s 6-day world record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER event in La Quinta, California. All photos courtesy of lululemon.
En Route to Camille Herron’s 6-Day World Record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER Event
Here we’ll discuss the records, world bests, and other milestones that Herron hit en route. This was Herron’s approximate record progression through the six days:
- 48-hour USATF American road record – 247.738 miles (Her IAU world record and USATF American track record still stand at 270.505 miles from her 2023 effort at the time-based event.)
- 300 miles – 59:54:58 (hours:minutes:seconds)
- 500 kilometers – 62:50:45
- 3 days – 342.091 miles
- 600 kilometers – 81:23:38
- 400 miles – 88:34:26
- 4 days – 429.836 miles
- 700 kilometers – 98:33:59
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800 kilometers – 117:44:55
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500 miles – 118:19:17
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5 days – 501.753 miles
- 900 kilometers – 142:40:58
- 6 day IAU world best performance – 560.330 miles
Camille Herron on her way to setting the 6-day world record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER Ultramarathon.
A big hat tip to the record-tracking and record-visualizing of the folks in the Running Through Time Facebook group, who’ve been following this event and Herron’s splits so closely and sharing them in a public forum.
Uniquely, the ultrarunning record marks reached during this event are managed by different entities, a combination of governing bodies and nonprofits.
The 48-hour mark is recognized as a world record by the governing body International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and, in the U.S., an American record for this time-based event is managed by the governing body USA Track and Field (USATF) and divided into track and road surfaces.
The 6-day mark is considered by the IAU as a world best performance.
All the other records listed above are tracked by the nonprofit Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU).
Camille Herron on her way to setting the women’s 6-day world record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER event in La Quinta, California.
