Are Path Runners Getting Sooner? – iRunFar

In every single place you look within the operating world, evidently course information are falling.

In February 2025, the observe and subject world was taken by storm because the indoor mile world document fell twice in 5 days, and the indoor 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter world information had been additionally reset. This improve in pace on the prime of the sphere has additionally been seen within the path operating world, and course information throughout the ultra-distance spectrum are being damaged left and proper. Previously yr, among the most prolific races noticed their course information fall: the Hardrock 100, Leadville 100 Mile, JFK 50 Mile, and Black Canyon 100k. Want I am going on?

However what’s driving path racing to turn out to be quicker on the entrance of the pack? Is that this improve in pace additionally mirrored in mid-pack runners? Is that this really a leap into a brand new frontier, or have I simply been consuming an excessive amount of iRunFar media?

On this article, I flip to the info to discover how course occasions have progressed over time at each the entrance and the center of the sphere. I concentrate on a dataset comprising “aggressive” ultramarathons. My intention is to take a look at how among the hottest races have developed in aggressive nature over time to:

• Discover the shift in efficiency over time, and
• Look at components that is likely to be contributing to efficiency will increase.

Historic information is pulled from DUV Extremely Marathon Statistics.

On this article, I have a look at information involving absolute end occasions. I wish to acknowledge that the operating situations year-to-year usually are not at all times equal and that variables similar to temperature, precipitation, course adjustments, and course situations do affect occasions. I hope to take a look at a big sufficient dataset to visualise key developments over time.

Within the second half of this text, we look at among the doable explanation why path runners are getting quicker.

Shifts in Efficiency on the High of the Subject

Let’s begin with prime performances. I used to be glued to the display screen for this yr’s Black Canyon 100k, watching the dominant performances of Riley Brady and Seth Ruhling. With a aggressive subject lining up at first line and three Western States 100 Golden Tickets on the road in each the ladies’s and males’s races, it was set to be a quick race from the start. On the end, each course information toppled, with Brady going practically half-hour below the earlier girls’s course document, and Ruhling breaking the boys’s by 5 minutes. [Editor’s Note: Riley Brady identifies as non-binary but competes in the women’s division.]

What has the development of those prime occasions on the Black Canyon 100k regarded like over time? To get a greater view of how efficiency has shifted over time, I plotted the highest 25 outcomes by yr and gender since 2014.

Black Canyon 100k High 25 Males’s Performances by 12 months

Black Canyon 100k High 25 Ladies’s Performances by 12 months

In these graphs, we will see the profitable occasions steadily rising over time, however much more attention-grabbing is visualizing the condensing of the sphere because the races turn out to be extra aggressive. For the boys’s subject in 2014, there was over a five-hour hole between first and twenty fifth place, whereas in 2025 that hole was lower than two hours. An analogous change could be seen over time within the girls’s subject.

Taking a look at different races we observe an identical development:

Javelina 100 Mile High 25 Males’s Performances by 12 months

Javelina 100 Mile High 25 Ladies’s Performances by 12 months

CCC High 25 Males’s Performances by 12 months

CCC High 25 Ladies’s Performances by 12 months

Shifts in Efficiency within the Center of the Pack

Is it simply the highest of the sphere that’s getting quicker, or is it everybody? We are able to see from the graphs above that the highest occasions are getting pushed quicker and the entrance of the sphere condensed, however is it simply because just a few extra people are gunning for glory on the most high-profile races?

On this subsequent part, we have a look at your complete subject of those races, to discover what the general middle-of-the-pack development has regarded like. Within the following graphs, we plot the median (center of the pack) end occasions over time, together with a match development line.

Javelina 100 Mile Median Performances by 12 months

Black Canyon 100k Median Performances by 12 months

CCC Median Performances by 12 months

These graphs present a way more muddied image. Some races seem to have middle-of-the-pack performances which can be steadily rising, whereas one is declining. These graphs are seemingly extra variable as they’re depending on your complete subject, which has grown to embody individuals who all have completely different targets for competing.

I actually like the next graph of Javelina 100 Mile end occasions, that exhibits the distribution of runners ending in sure time buckets. On the left we see the elite runners gunning for podium spots, a spike round 24 hours for folk attempting to go sub-24 hours, and one other spike proper earlier than the cutoff for these simply attempting to complete.

Individuals have quite a lot of completely different targets at ultramarathons, and that’s seemingly resulting in the flatter median end occasions throughout your complete subject. It’s attention-grabbing to notice the one race that requires qualification, CCC, has seen a fairly regular development in quicker end occasions. This would possibly recommend that the center of the pack for extra seasoned racers is, in truth, progressing.

Potential Components Resulting in Shifts in Efficiency

On this subsequent part, we discover among the components which may be contributing to an enchancment in race occasions for the highest of the sphere. We concentrate on the highest performances as these have the clearest upward development over time. Lots of the components mentioned could also be relevant to a wider vary of runners, relying on whether or not they’re driving the wave of performance-enhancing components.

For those who’re on the lookout for a clean-cut reply, this part is just not for you. There are a number of things which will contribute to information being damaged, and far of that is completely speculative at this level, and it’s moreover troublesome to parse out the person affect of every one. We talk about just a few at a excessive degree after which dig into just a few others which have some information surrounding them.

1. Higher Expertise

Carbon-plated sneakers are beginning to turn out to be a extra frequent sight at path operating occasions, with small effectivity will increase having been discovered amongst runners in some path operating terrain in some research. Extra correct coronary heart price screens permit runners to trace their effort ranges and keep a relentless output over the course of lengthy occasions.

2. Fueling

Whereas that is extremely speculative at this level, it’s doable that the not too long ago popularized high-carbohydrate fueling method is permitting some athletes to keep up blood glucose ranges for longer durations, main to higher restoration throughout coaching and sustained efforts over longer-distance races.

3. Coaching Idea

As extra information turns into out there round optimized coaching approaches, elite athletes could possibly push to new ranges by optimizing pace and endurance.

4. Elevated Competitors

The sector of runners lining up for prime races is turning into more and more aggressive. With Golden Tickets to the Western States 100 {and professional} contracts on the road, increasingly prime athletes are racing essentially the most prolific occasions. By taking a look at UTMB Index scores amongst prime finishers, we will see how this aggressive panorama has shifted over time.

Beneath is a chart of UTMB Index scores from the Black Canyon 100k males’s subject in 2022 versus 2025. Rankings are taken from the top of the prior season, so their efficiency within the occasion doesn’t bias the rankings.

Within the males’s subject, the highest 25 finishers in 2022 had a median index of 782, whereas in 2025 the common index was over 20 factors increased at 804.

Wanting on the girls’s subject, we see a fair better shift. In 2022, the common UTMB Index of the highest girls finishers was 662, versus a median index of 689 in 2025, a 27-point distinction.

I acknowledge that one’s UTMB Index doesn’t outline a runner neither is the UTMB Index a surefire approach to rank athletes and their performances, however it’s a typically useful indication to know the extent of runners getting into a race and the make-up of the highest of the sphere. These more and more aggressive fields demand that runners push from the beginning and take some dangers in pursuit of the rostrum.

Conclusion

The highest of the sphere has been pushed upward during the last a number of years, and we’ll seemingly see this development proceed on account of quite a lot of components. New know-how, data, and competitors within the ultrarunning world might have all contributed to this efficiency improve on the prime of the sphere, and these components could be helpful for all athletes who profit from the altering panorama. Wherever you might be in your path operating journey, there’s something to be realized from the components main to hurry enhancements within the sport.

We hope this text gave you some perception into how the course information at prime extremely occasions are being pushed upward, and a view of how performances throughout the sphere have shifted over time. There are a number of things resulting in efficiency will increase, impacting completely different runners in numerous methods.

Regardless of the case, it’s clear that the game is getting quicker. Hop aboard the ship.

Name for Feedback

• What different components do you suppose are resulting in this shift in efficiency?
• What adjustments have you ever noticed in how folks strategy ultramarathons?
• Are your race occasions enhancing? Why/why not?