In Vienna, Ill., Camille Herron ran the Tunnel Hill 100 in 12 hours, 42 minutes, and 39 seconds. She shattered the previous women’s 100-mile world record by more than an hour.
The Tunnel Hill 100 is known for blazingly fast long-distance running records. Vienna, Illinois, doesn’t have many hills or challenging terrain, and racers can go all out on the course. Herron did just that, running the fastest women’s 100-mile race in history.
On November 12, Herron, 35, won the Tunnel Hill 100 at 12:42:39, averaging 7:37 per mile. Previously, Gina Slaby ran 100 trail miles in 13:45:49 in 2016.
The pace is mind-boggling, particularly on a trail course. It’s only about an hour slower than male Zach Bitter‘s American men’s 100-mile record of 11:40 set in 2015 on a track. The fastest-ever 100-mile run was set on track by Oleg Kharitonov at 11:28:03 in 2002.