Running in high humidity and relatively hot temperatures, Japan’s Jumpei Yamaguchi and France’s Floriane Hot won the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships, with times of 6:12:03 and 7:08:43, respectively. Hot successfully defended her win from the last edition in 2022, while Yamaguchi moved up from second place last time.
Starting at 6:15 a.m. local time on Saturday, December 7, runners from at least 35 countries took to the 4.865-kilometer circuit in Bengaluru, India, a city with a population of around 14 million. The southern Indian city sits at 3,000 feet and generally has a reasonably moderate climate. This was the first time the race has been held in India since the championships started in Belgium in 1987. The circuit included a section where runners passed by each other to and from a small outer loop so everyone could keep an eye on their competitors. Racers completed 20 laps of the circuit plus a 2.696-kilometer start lap.
Held by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU), the IAU 100k World Championships are now held every other year. The event regularly brings together national team runners from up to 40 countries. The last time the event took place was in Germany in 2022. To learn more about the robust history of the IAU 100k World Championships, check out our recent deep-dive article.
In addition to the individual races, the IAU 100k World Championships also has a team category where the times of a country’s top three runners are added together for a final cumulative time. At the time of this article’s publishing, the men’s and women’s team podiums aren’t yet confirmed, but it looks like Team Japan for the men and Team France for the women won commandingly. We’ll update this section once the team results are finalized.
Runners were surely chasing the world records for the distance. Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin currently holds the men’s 100k record, which he set in 2023 at 6:05:35, and Japan’s Tomoe Abe set the women’s record in 2000 with a time of 6:33:11.
The heat and humidity didn’t spare the racers this year. Temperatures started at 19 degrees Celsius (66 Fahrenheit) in the morning and were forecasted to climb to 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) by noon. While this weather made for interesting storylines as the race progressed, it also made the world records untouchable.
With two of the top three from the last edition back in both the men’s and women’s races, plus many others, it was looking to be fast fields. The women’s race saw several changes to the lead, several big names fade throughout the event, and patience and experience paying off for the now two-time champion, France’s Floriane Hot. In the men’s field, the 2022 runner-up, Japan’s Jumpei Yamaguchi, emerged victorious after going to the front early on and never relinquishing his lead, while others fought for the remainder of the spots behind him.
Read on for more details on how each of the races unfolded.
2024 IAU 100k World Championships Men’s Race
From the beginning, it seemed that the Japanese duo of Jumpei Yamaguchi and Haruki Okayama would be the pair to chase for the rest of the field. The two finished second and first, respectively, in the last edition, and early on, they looked to have a similar result in mind this time.
The two immediately established an advantage on the rest of the field, at first running with Guillaume Ruel of France and Tomoya Watanabe of Japan after the first two laps. By the end of the third lap, approximately 17 kilometers and just under 2 hours in, Yamaguchi and Okayama led, with Ruel and Watanabe chasing 30 seconds behind.
With the sixth lap complete, a little less than a third into the 20-lap race, Yamaguchi and Okayama’s lead over Ruel had swelled to 90 seconds, and they had 2 minutes over Watanabe. Behind the first four, Olle Meijer of Sweden, Charlie Lawrence of the U.S., and Vipul Kumar of India chased together about 5 minutes back.
Jumpei Yamaguchi in disbelief after winning the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships. All photos: International Association of Ultrarunners
While the lead two stayed consistent, things shook up with both Ruel and Watanabe dropping back in the field. Ruel wouldn’t continue past lap nine, and Antonio Jesús Aguilar of Spain moved his way into third, 6.5 minutes behind the leaders. Lap 10 was also where Yamaguchi first opened up a gap to Okayama. First, it was 45 seconds, then more than 90 seconds by the end of lap 11. Carlos Gazapo of Spain sat in fourth behind his countryman Aguilar with about 3.5 hours elapsed.
By the end of 14 laps and three-quarters of the way through, Yamaguchi had opened a massive gap in the lead of nearly 7 minutes on second runner Okayama. The chasing Spanish trio of Aguilar, Gazapo, and now Felix Pont (Spain) seemed to be closing in on Okayama for second as the day and heat wore on. Indeed, by the end of the next lap, Aguilar had overtaken Okayama, who was now 90 seconds behind the Spaniard in third. Gazapo was right on his heels. By lap 18, Gazapo dropped and Pont also passed Okayama and was now in third place behind Yamaguchi and Aguilar. Toru Somiya of Japan ran in fifth with 15 kilometers to go.
Yamaguchi set out for his last lap with a nearly 12-minute gap, but behind him, the remaining podium spots continued to be traded between the chasers.
In the end, Jumpei Yamaguchi cruised comfortably to a massive win in 6:12:03, moving up from a second-place finish at the last edition of the event in 2022. Antonio Jesús Aguilar finished second in 6:25:40, and defending champion Haruki Okayama reclaimed third place in 6:37:39.
Just back of the front three, Toru Somiya moved up to fourth, finishing in 6:39:43 and sealing a massive men’s team win for Japan. Felix Pont, who was never far from the action, finished in fifth in 6:40:05.
Antonio Jesús Aguilar looking pleased after taking second at the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships.
2024 IAU 100k World Championships Men’s Results
- Jumpei Yamaguchi (Japan) – 6:12:03
- Antonio Jesús Aguilar (Spain) – 6:25:40
- Haruki Okayama (Japan) – 6:37:39
- Toru Somiya (Japan) – 6:39:43
- Felix Pont (Spain) – 6:40:05
- Chikara Omine (U.S.) – 6:40:41
- Alexander Milne (Great Britain) – 6:43:06
- Kok Wai Tse (Hong Kong) – 6:45:46
- Jarlath McKenna (Great Britain) – 6:51:04
- Alessio Milani (Italy) – 6:51:12
While the men’s team results hadn’t been announced at the time this article was published, Team Japan should be the winners by a large margin, with Spain and Great Britain taking second and third. We’ll update this as soon as these details are confirmed.
The 2024 IAU 100k World Championships men’s podium (from l-to-r): 2. Antonio Jesús Aguilar, 1. Jumpei Yamaguchi, and 3. Haruki Okayama.
2024 IAU 100k World Championships Women’s Race
Miho Nakata of Japan, the women’s 24-hour world record holder, and Eszter Csillag of Hungary led the early charge in the women’s race, running together at the end of the first two full laps, about 50 minutes in. Floriane Hot, the previous edition women’s champion, and Marie-Ange Brumelot, both of France, chased a minute back, and Great Britain’s Sarah Webster was just another 15 seconds behind them.
By the end of the sixth lap, it was still Nakata in the lead at about 2:12 elapsed. Webster had joined Csillag just 20 seconds behind the leader, and Hot was another minute back. Melissah Gibson of Great Britain, Caitriona Jennings of Ireland, who placed third in the last edition, and Petra Pastorová of the Czech Republic finished their sixth lap at 2:16 elapsed, still well in contention.
Webster made a move into the lead at the start of lap eight, followed by Brumelot, who slotted into second. Both Nakata and Csillag seemed to be fading from their fast starts. By the end of the next lap, Webster and Brumelot continued to run in close proximity with 3:14 elapsed. Hot was 75 seconds behind them, carefully biding her time. Meanwhile, both Csillag and Jennings dropped from the race after eight laps.
Marie-Ange Brumelot recovering after her second-place finish at the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships.
The order of the top four remained the same through lap 11, with Dominika Stelmach of Poland moving up into fifth. By the end of lap 13, just shy of five hours elapsed, Webster led Hot, who’d just passed Brumelot, by just under 3 minutes. Nakata was now another 5 minutes in arrears.
Fifteen laps in, about three-quarters of the distance completed, the women’s race remained incredibly tight, with Webster leading Hot by 2.5 minutes and Brumelot trailing by just another 30 seconds. Nakata was about 4 minutes off Brumelot in fourth.
Hot’s patience and experience paid off when she overtook Webster on lap 16. By lap 17, Brumelot had also passed Webster, and the gap between Hot and Brumelot sat at about 45 seconds, and Webster was a further 75 seconds behind with three laps to go. Going out on her last lap, Hot held a 2.5-minute lead over Brumelot, and Webster was now 8.5 minutes off the lead.
In the end, Floriane Hot repeated as women’s champion, with a time of 7:08:43. Marie-Ange Brumelot stayed in second, finishing in 7:12:22, and Sarah Webster held onto third in 7:18:59.
Early leader Miho Nakata finished fourth in 7:25:52, and Melissah Gibson took fifth in 7:35:27.
Floriane Hot, the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships women’s champion.
2024 IAU 100k World Championships Women’s Results
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- Floriane Hot (France) – 7:08:43
- Marie-Ange Brumelot (France) – 7:12:22
- Sarah Webster (Great Britain) – 7:19:18
- Miho Nakata (Japan) – 7:25:52
- Melissah Gibson (Great Britain) – 7:35:27
- Dominika Stelmach (Poland) – 7:37:15
- Petra Pastorová (Czech Republic) — 7:41:44
- Federica Moroni (France) — 7:45:38
- Mirjana Šimek Bilić (Croatia) — 7:46:17
- Courtney Olsen (U.S.) — 7:48:21
Although the women’s team results have not been confirmed yet, Team France looks to have comfortably sealed the win, with Great Britain and the United States taking second and third, respectively. We’ll update this as soon as these details are confirmed.
Sarah Webster after taking third at the 2024 IAU 100k World Championships.
