Webster and Selman top the 2024 GB 100 Kilometre rankings
Men
The 2024 GB 100Kilometre rankings, illustrate that the standards of 100km times run by British athletes, male and female, continues to improve.
The British championships held at Perth in March, together with the IAU World Championship 100km in India, provide the bulk of this year’s leading rankings.
Just over a minute separated the first three at Perth in a very competitive race. Dougie Selman’s 6:34:28 headed James Turner’s 6:34:48 by a mere 20 seconds. Joe Turner, with 6:35:37, ensured 3 British men broke the 6 hours 40 barrier for the first time in a 100km race.
Chris Richardson just missed the 6:40 barrier with 6:40:44.
These four, along with Alex Milne and Jarlath McKenna, who had topped the 2023 rankings with his 6:37:19, made up the GB and NI men’s team at the IAU World Championships in Bengaluru.
The heat and humidity of India precluded super fast times, but five of the six still achieved sub-7-hour clockings. Selman, the fastest at Perth, struggling in the conditions, the only one outside seven hours.
Before 2021, sub-7-hour clockings were only achieved by at most two or three British runners each year. This year, eight different male runners achieved 12 sub-7-hour performances.
Women
Sarah Webster, as in 2023, was the standout women’s 100km runner.
She had run a new European record in 2023, which, due to a technicality, was unable to be ratified. She again bettered the existing European record at Perth in March, running 7:03:40, a time that has now been ratified.
Melissah Gibson had a breakthrough year at 100km, running 7:13:23 at Perth.
Julia Davis, running 7:25:48, ensured three British women were running under seven and a half hours for the first time in one race.
This is quite an achievement when you consider Carolyn Hunter-Rowe’s long-held British record of 7:27:19 from 1993,and Lizzie Hawker’s 7:28:56 from 2006 were the only previous sub 7:30 clockings in the last 30 years, until Webster’s 2023 time.
Caroline Turner’s time in winning the Sri Chinmoy 100km race in Paris of 7:41:51 put her 4th on the annual rankings and moves her up into the top ten all-time British Athletes.
In Bengaluru, like the men, times were all commensurately slower but still excellent in a world and British context.
2024 Globally WOMEN
Yuliia Ryzhankova of Russia is listed at the top of the women’s DUV Global rankings for 2024. Her time of 7:01:18 at the Russian National Championship in September improves Sarah Webster’s European record set earlier in the year. The time is still waiting for ratification.
Webster’s Perth time puts her second in the 2024 World Rankings. The french duo of Florianne Hot and Marie-Ange Brumelot gold and silver medallists, respectively at the IAU world championships lie third and fourth, with Melissah Gibson’s and Julia Davis’s times from Perth the 5th and 6th fastest times of the year.
The full 2024 World rankings for women can be seen HERE
Not listed in the global rankings is Marie-Ange Brumelot’s 6:56:54 from the Steenwerck 100km race in France in April. Although run on an accurately measured course, the event did not have a permit from the French Federation and is not technically eligible for rankings or record purposes.
2024 Globally MEN
Junpei Yamaguchi of Japan ran the fastest time in the world in 2024. In June he ran a superb 6:10:02 on the fast Yubetsu course in Japan. He was only marginally slower in the hotter and more humid conditions at the World Championships in India, recording 6:12:17. With his 6:06:07 timing from 2023, he now has three of the top nine times of all time. Only world record holder Aleksandr Sorokin has run faster on two occasions, 6:05:35 in 2023 and 6:05:41 in 2022.
Reinforcing the quality of the British mens performances, Dougie Selman, James and Joe Turner are in 11th,12th and 14th, respectively, in the world rankings with Chris Richardson and Alex Milne in 18th and 22nd.
Full 2024 global men’s rankings can be viewed HERE
A full report on the IAU World Championships 100 km can be found HERE.
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Adrian Tarit Stott.
The author is a former GB 24-hour ultra international with over 100 ultra race completions. He has also been involved in organising ultra-distance races for over 30 years. Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member (Voluntary) of both British Athletics Ultra Running Advisory Group (URAG) and The Mountain and Trail advisory group while also a part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams.
He is a freelance writer in his spare time, contributing articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
Who was the 10th fastest individual woman?
John,
Thanks for reading and aking the question. On checking Stats, Jennifer Wood had originally crept under the radar, but discovered her 100km split from her run at the Barcelona 12 hour on Dec 14th. Table now updated to include her performance. Thanks again John.