Megan Eckert sets new world record for 6 days.
In what can only be described as a phenomenal, groundbreaking performance, Megan Eckert has set a new record for running 6 days of 1,024.319 km /636.482 miles.
She becomes the first woman to break through the 1,000 km barrier in a 6-day event, a feat only achieved by 8 men.
Running at the long-established Emu 6-day event, at Balatonfüred in Hungary, she covered 1,141 laps of a loop measured at 898.2 metres.
The event also incorporated the GOMU World Championships.
The distance improved her own record of 970.685 Kilometres, set at the GOMU Championships at Vallon Pont d’Arc in France, in May 2025, by 53km.
She also placed first overall, beating all the men.
According to the DUV archives, it is the 6th-best 6-day distance ever by a runner.
The only runners with better recorded distances are Ivan Zaborski (2025), Matthieu Bonne (2024) Jean-Giles Boussiquet (1992) )and two performance by Yiannis Kouros(1988 and 2005)
It is also an absolute USA record, bettering the previous men’s distance of 975.654 Km/606.243 Miles set by Joe Fejes, also at Balatonfüred, in 2015.
Eckert committed from the start, covering 212.873 km in the first 24 hours. She then seems to have settled into a routine of running approximately 75-85 km every 12-hour segment for the rest of the race.
According to the split lap times. Eckert took one regular 2-hour (ish) break every day to sleep, interspersed with some shorter ones.
Otherwise, she was on the move the rest of the time.
Her progress can be gauged from the table below.
Megan Eckert, 12 hour splits for her 6 day record
Norway’s Simon Holvik led the race for the first 4 days before encountering a few issues. He still won the mens race with 940.874 Km from Croatia’s Mario Celokovic. Local favourite Szabolcs Beda was third with 853.693 km.
Tomoni Bitoh of Japan was the 2nd female with 802.927, and Hungary’s Szuzsanna Maraz third with 754.588. Full results HERE
Eckert came into the race, having staked her claim as one of the world’s best multi-day exponents. Apart from her world 6-day record from 2025, she ran the second-best female Backyard Ultra on record, at 616.952 km, behind GB’s Sarah Perry’s performance of 636.070 km.
The evolution of women’s 6-day running had been a little static for many years. The distances set by ultra pioneers Sandy Barwick (883.631km) in 1990 and Eleanor Robinson (866,800) in 1989 went unchallenged until Camille Herron made a serious attempt at the record in 2024. She set a new mark of 901.768 km, breaking new ground by going beyond the 900 km barrier. Herron’s record run, and the publicity it attracted, certainly rekindled interest among the women. Since then, Denmark’s Stine Rex, twice, and Eckert herself have improved the record, and many other women have been inspired to take on the 6-day challenge.
Eckert’s record run in Hungary, with that huge improvement, has set the bar very high for anyone brave enough to attempt to challenge it.
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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. He is very actively involved in several areas of the sport and is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Running Advisory Group (URAG) and UKA’s Mountain and Trail Advisory Group along with being a member of Scottish Athletics Hill and Trail Running Commission. He also contributes as part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams. A freelance writer in his spare time, he contributes articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.
