American Courtney Olsen continues to make her mark on ultrarunning historical past, this time provisionally setting a girls’s 50-mile world document of 5:31:56 on the Tunnel Hill 50 Mile in Vienna, Illinois, on November 9, 2024.
The earlier document of 5:40:18 was set in 1991 by the long-lasting American ultrarunner Ann Trason. Olsen’s effort resets the world document by 8 minutes and 22 seconds.
Her efficiency represents a median tempo of 6:39 per mile (4:08 per kilometer) over 50 miles (80.47 kilometers). Wow!
Courtney Olsen crossing the road to set a brand new girls’s 50-mile world document on the 2024 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile. Picture: Micki Colson, Colson Pictures
The Tunnel Hill 50 Mile is run as a double out-and-back on the Tunnel Hill State Path, a rails-to-trails path composed principally of dust. The occasion and path are named after the tunnel by means of which the path passes and was the placement of a new males’s 50-mile world document in 2023. It’s a USA Observe & Area-certified course, and the occasion has an Worldwide Affiliation of Ultrarunners (IAU) Gold Label. The IAU governs the 50-mile distance for world data, and shall be answerable for ratifying the document.
The 37-year-old hails from Bellingham, Washington, and seems to be amidst a giant yr in racing. Earlier in 2024, she took third on the Comrades Marathon. She’s additionally on Staff USA, set to compete on the IAU 100-Kilometer World Championships in December, 2024. In 2022, the final time the 100k world champs passed off, Olsen completed fourth and ran 7 hours and quarter-hour. Her marathon PR seems to be 2:36:21.