Caitriona Jennings has broken the world record for 100 miles after running 12 hours, 37 minutes and four seconds to complete the Tunnel Hill 100 Mile, a US ultra-marathon event staged in Illinois.
The Donegal athlete was making her debut in a 100-mile race, having already established a series of Irish records over shorter distances. She produced a remarkably consistent run despite warming conditions to break the previous world record of 12:42:40 set by US ultra-marathon runner Camille Herron at the same event in 2017.
For Jennings, who turned 45 in June and ran the Olympic marathon in London back in 2012, the extended distance proved little obstacle as she finished fourth best overall, her 12:37:04 almost four hours ahead of the next best woman on the day.
Running in her club colours of Letterkenny AC, Jennings averaged 7:34 per mile (4:42/km) across the 100-mile distance (160.9km). After 80 miles, or about 10 hours of racing, her pace only slightly slowed, and she remained under world record pace the entire way.
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“Words can’t describe this feeling,” said Jennings, who quickly paid tribute to her Dublin coach Terry McConnon. “I’m truly honoured to take this record from a true champion [Camille Herron], and huge thanks to Steve Durbin for organising a phenomenal race, and Terry McConnon for his wonderful coaching guidance.”
The Tunnel Hill event included distances of the marathon, 50-mile, 100km, and 100-mile, and Jennings earned herself a world record bonus of $7,500, on top of first prize of $1,250.
Earlier this year, Jennings broke the Irish 50k record at the Donadea 50km National Championships with a winning time of 3:16:33, and she also holds the Irish 100km record of 7:43:01, set in 2021.
She’s also previously won the 2022 IAU 50km European Championships, and enjoyed multiple top-10 finishes at the Comrades Marathon, the 88km race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, the world’s oldest ultra-marathon.
Her marathon best of 2:36:17 in April 2012 qualified her for the London Olympics, although her effort there was severely restricted by a stress fracture suffered in the build-up to the event. She also won the Belfast marathon in 2017, her sister Sinead also competing in rowing for Ireland at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
The Tunnel Hill 100 Mile event consisted of two legs of an out-and-back course, mostly flat, on the Tunnel Hill State Trail, the site of the old train track and tunnel in southern Illinois. When Herron broke the 100-mile world record in 2017, she improved the previous best mark by 63 minutes, and now Jennings has lowered that record again to 12:37:04, with the promise perhaps of faster to come.
