2025 IAU 24-Hour World Championships Preview – iRunFar

Fixed-time ultrarunning fans, get ready! The 2025 IAU 24-Hour World Championships take place on Saturday, October 18, in Albi, France.

The race starts at 10 a.m. local time and follows a 1.5-kilometer (0.93 miles) course looping in and around the Albi stadium. The Albi venue in southwest France is no stranger to hosting championships, having held the 2016 IAU 24-Hour European Championships and the 2019 IAU 24-Hour World Championships.

With both 2023 champions — Aleksandr Sorokin (Lithuania) and Miho Nakata (Japan), who are also the world record holders — returning, the 15th edition of the generally biennial world championships promises a strong field in both the men’s and women’s races. And as long as weather conditions are favorable, the world records will likely be challenged.

The current world records for the 24-hour distance are held by Sorokin, who ran 319.614k (198.599 miles) at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships in Italy, and Miho Nakata (Japan), who ran 270.363k (167.996 miles) at the last edition of this event in 2023.

In this article, we take a quick look at the history of this world championships and a deeper look at who we expect to be at the front of the women’s and men’s races. A full entrants list is also available.

IAU 24-Hour World Championships History

The inaugural IAU 24-Hour World Track Championships were first staged by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) in 2001. The fact that it was held on a track limited the entries to 54 competitors. Two years later, the first IAU 24-Hour World Championships on a road loop took place, and 141 athletes participated. It was held in conjunction with the IAU 24-Hour European Championships. This 2025 edition has a record 397 entries, with 222 men and 175 women on the start lists from 47 national federations. This is way up from the last edition in 2023, where 245 entrants raced, with 138 men and 107 women.

Although recent rankings always play a part in predicting leading contenders, the outcomes of these fixed-time world championships can be difficult to predict, as athletes may have run a qualifying distance as far back as 12 to 18 months, or more. So, although past performances and qualifications can be a guide, they do not always indicate an athlete’s current form.

As with all IAU events, there are both individual and team events. The team result is calculated by adding the cumulative distances of a nation’s top three runners, with the highest cumulative distance winning. In 2023, Lithuania won the men’s event, with Poland and Great Britain placing second and third. Poland won the 2023 women’s team event, followed by Japan and the Czech Republic.

To learn more, read our History and Evolution of the 24-Hour World Records article or check out our Data-Driven Primer on the IAU 24-Hour World Championships article, the latter of which was written before the 2023 event but is just as relevant today.

2025 IAU 24-Hour World Championships Women to Watch

Podium Potential Women

The women’s world record has been broken at the last three world championships. In 2017, Poland’s Patrycja Bereznowska set a then-world record of 259.991k (161.551 miles). Two years later, in 2019, Camille Herron improved the record to 270.116k (167.842 miles). At the last event in 2023, Japan’s Miho Nakata pushed the mark up just a tiny bit further, to 270.363k (167.996 miles).

All three of these athletes are entered and set to be on the start line, although it’s worth noting that Herron broke her wrist in a rollerblading accident in September, which could affect her ability to run. Nakata has also been working through health issues, but appears to be racing.

In 2024, Herron ran 263.004k (163.423 miles) at the Soochow Track Invitational in Taipei and remains the only female athlete to have won IAU world titles in the 50k, 100k, and 24-hour events. Bereznowska ran 263.178k (163.531 miles) at the 2024 ABM Jędraszek UltraPark Weekend and, since winning the world title in Belfast in 2017, has been one of the most consistent 24-hour performers. Nakata ran 249.198k (154.844 miles) at the 2024 Hirosaki 24-Hour Run, and then 249.303k (154.909 miles) at the 2025 Jingu Gaien 24-Hour Challenge.

All three, if running to previous standards, could end up on the podium, but there are plenty of others with the credentials to challenge them.

Holly Ranson of Australia leads the 2025 rankings with 263.548k (163.761 miles) achieved at the Sri Chinmoy 24/48 Track Festival in her home country, in March. In doing so, she set an Australian 24-hour record, as well as an Australian 100-mile record.

Great Britain’s Sarah Webster, the bronze medalist at last year’s IAU 100k World Championships, an event in which Nakata finished fourth just behind her, will also be one to watch. She made the step up to 24 hours in April this year, recording 243.393k (151.237 miles) off a 14:05 100-mile split, to qualify for the this race.

Noora Honkala (Finland) has a best 24-hour distance of 246.496k (153.165 miles) from the 2022 Loutraki International Ultramarathon Festival, her last serious attempt at 24 hours. She ran close to Herron in the 2023 Spartathlon, placing second, and returned to win the race in 2024. She also placed eighth at the 2023 Comrades Marathon and 11th in 2025.

Other Women to Watch and Their 24-Hour Personal Bests

• Hanna Bergwall (Sweden) – 241.269k at the 2025 VXO Ultrafest
• Therese Fredriksson (Sweden) – 241.658k at the 2025 VXO Ultrafest
• Stéphanie Gicquel (France) – 253.580k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships
• Corinne Gruffaz (France) – 245.549k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships
• Lauren Jones (U.S.) – 247.923k at the 2024 Desert Solstice Track Invitational
• Aiko Kanematsu (Japan) – 247.070k at the 2023 Jingu Gaien 24-Hour Challenge
• Marisa Lizak (U.S) – 244.756k at the 2024 Desert Solstice Track Invitational
• Olena Shevchenko (Ukraine) – 254.463k at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships
• Anne Stephan (Germany) – 250.572k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships
• Daniela Tarnutzer (Switzerland) – 252.822k at the 2024 24-Stundenlauf Aare-Insel Brugg
• Jo Zakrzewski (Great Britain) – 247.984k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships

[Editor’s Note: Jo Zakrzewski was disqualified from the 2023 Manchester To Liverpool Ultra 50 Mile for traveling in a car for a few miles of the race and then crossing the finish line. She received a one-year ban from U.K. Athletics.]

2025 IAU 24-Hour World Championships Men to Watch

Podium Potential Men

The top four finishers from the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships are all on the start list.

Aleksandr Sorokin from Lithuania is the defending champion from 2023, when he ran 301.790k (187.523 miles). He is the current men’s world record holder with 319.614k (198.598 miles), set when winning the 2022 IAU European 24-Hour Championships. Over the last five years, he has been impressive at both 24-hour and 100k events, having world records in both disciplines. He ran in the recent Adidas “Chasing 100” at the end of August, recording 6:04:10 for 100k, slightly faster than his official world record of 6:05:35, in an aided marketing event by the brand. The event was not run under World Athletics rules, and the times run are not record-eligible.

Fotis Zisimopoulos (Greece) was the 2023 silver medalist, running 292.254k (181.598 miles), his personal best. He is a four-time winner of Greece’s classic Spartathlon and the current course record holder. He has run a few shorter events in the last 12 months but skipped this year’s Spartathlon.

Andrii Tkachuk of Ukraine was third at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships with 284.540k (176.804 miles). He ran a personal best of 295.363k (183.530 miles) at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships. A string of strong results at shorter races in the past two years shows form.

Francisco Mariano Martinez of Spain was fourth in the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships with 282.061k (175.264 miles), which is his personal best to date.

Andrzej Piotrowski was sixth in the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships with 265.886k (165.213 miles). His personal best is 301.858k (187.565 miles), which he ran at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships when placing second behind Sorokin. He is one of only three men to have bettered 300k (186.411 miles). Sorokin and retired Greek ultra legend Yiannis Kouros are the other two.

Elov Olsson of Sweden ran 284.669k (176.885 miles) at the 2025 VXO Ultrafest, splitting 100 miles in 12:50:31. He ran a 6:30:14 at the 2022 IAU 100k World Championships, where he placed seventh, and he also won the 2023 Tunnel Hill 100 Mile with 11:26:19.

Other Men to Watch and Their 24-Hour Personal Bests

• Robbie Britton (Great Britain) – 277.439k at the 2023 24 Hours of Torino
• Matthew Field (Great Britain) – 281.303k at the 2024 Gloucester 24-Hour Track Race Invitational
• Chris Kelly (Great Britain) – 273.375k at the 2024 24 Hours of Albi
• Dan Lawson (Great Britain) – 273.003k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships
• Amar Singh Devanda (India) – 272.537k at the 2024 IAU 24-Hour Asia and Oceania Championships
• Stijn Van Lokeren (Belgium) – 280.020k at the 2025 Belgian 24-Hour Championships
• Luka Videtič (Slovenia) – 265.322k at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships
• Marco Visintini (Italy) – 288.437k at the 2022 IAU 24-Hour European Championships

Call for Comments

The 24-hour event format is unique compared to many other styles of ultrarunning. There will always be emerging runners a little under the radar, waiting to make a breakthrough. Let us know if you think we have missed someone!