On Tuesday, Belgian ultrarunner Matthieu Bonne set a new world record at the 2024 GOMU-EMU 6-Day World Championships in Hungary, covering 1,046.29 kilometres (650 miles) over 144 hours to surpass Yiannis Kouros’s historic mark of 1,036.80 kilometres that stood for the last two decades.
Bonne set out with the goal of achieving the record, averaging 7.2 km/h over the six-day race, breaking the record with just an hour left and adding an additional 10 kilometres. He completed 1,164 loops of the 900-metre course—enough to make anyone dizzy! Remarkably, Bonne was trailing Kouros’s pace until the final day, when he surged after 120 hours of running to secure the record.
The race, which began on Sept. 5, took place on a flat, paved 900-metre course with varied weather, including heavy rain on day four. The Belgian also achieved the fastest 600-mile split in history, reaching the mark in five days, 12 hours, 27 minutes and 12 seconds.
Belgium has a new World Record !
Congrats to Matthieu Bonne for new World Champion title and new World Record Holder in the 6 Days Race !!!
Finishing his race with a staggering 1046km – almost ten kilometres more than previous record !
Cheers to you dear Matthieu !!! pic.twitter.com/VjNwjSMEzu
— Made in Belgium (@MIB_BelgiumMade) September 12, 2024
His six-day performance is recognized as a “world-best” by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), the primary governing body for ultrarunning, but not as a world record. Instead, world records for multi-day ultramarathon events are tracked by the Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners (GOMU). As per usual, the records are pending ratification.
According to iRunFar, in addition to this achievement, Bonne has completed the Marathon des Sables and boasts accolades in open-water swimming, including crossing the English Channel and navigating Belgium’s coast.
