World record missed by seconds 

On Saturday, 24th of August 2024, Sarah Webster, the 2024 British 100km champion, came within 7 seconds of setting a world record for 40 miles on a track.

Taking part in the Gloucester 24-hour race, Webster had no intention of going the whole 24 hours. Her goal, as well as being part of her build up to the IAU World 100km Championships in December, was to use the race as an opportunity to target the current women’s 40-mile track record.

The existing track record of 4 hours 23 minutes 43 seconds had been set by English runner Carolyn Hunter-Rowe 31 years previously, on 7th March,1993, at the Barry 40-mile track race in South Wales.

Webster was to come up an agonising seven seconds outside the record recording, 4 hours 23 minutes and 50 seconds, having completed just under 161 laps of the 400-metre track.

Until 55 km/ 34 Miles, Webster had been ahead of Hunter-Rowe’s time. However, although maintaining a good pace, and averaging just under 1 minute 40 seconds a lap, 6 minutes 40 sec per mile pacing, she suffered a slight dip in pace. This resulted in running a couple of miles with a few high 1-minute 40-second laps, and a few, when 1-minute 50-second laps were hit, just below the 7-minute mile pace.

Although Sarah speeded up in the last 2 miles back down to 1:40 and even a 1:33 last lap, her fastest of the race, it was not to be, and Hunter-Rowe’s record survives.

Comparing Sarah Webster with Carolyn Hunter-Rowe

From the chart, you can see that Webster was ahead of Hunter-Rowe’s schedule right up until 55-km. 

Webster commented after her run,

“I just lost concentration for a few laps. I pulled it back in the last six laps, including a 94-second last lap, but it wasn’t quite enough. I think running around a track is as much a mental as a physical test.”

Pic from Carolyn

Carolyn Hunter-Rowe’s 40 mile record.

Hunter-Rowe had set her time in the Barry 40-mile track race in 1993.

 1993 was a good year for Hunter-Rowe. 

After setting that 40-mile time at Barry on 7th March, she followed it up by claiming the British Championship 100k in Nottingham in 7:34:54. 

Later in the summer, she claimed victory in the World 100km Championships at Torhout in Belgium on 8th August. Her time of 7:27:19 was a new British record, which was to stand for many years before Webster broke it at the Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km at Craigavon in April 2023.

Eight weeks later, she ran the classic London- Brighton road race, setting a course record of 6:34:10 on the undulating 88.5  Km course from Big Ben by the Houses of Parliament to Brighton seafront.

 Comparing marathon and other race times  times.

Hunter-Rowe had a Marathon PB of 2:40 28. Webster’s current marathon PB is 2:39:56

Hunter-Rowe 40 mile recors was 4:26:43.    Webster’s  recent 40 mile time was 4:26:50    

Comparison with Road records.

 Comparing both Webster and Hunter-Rowe’s 40-mile track times to the best road 40-mile recorded,  Anne Trason, the ultra pioneer of the 1990s, ran 4:26:13, 30 seconds faster than Hunter-Rowe’s track time, in a road race at Houston, Texas, on 19th January 1991.

This was a split time en route to a 50-mile time of 5:40:18.

Men’s 40-mile times.

Ollie Garrod set the current men’s world 40-mile track time of 3:45:07, also at the Barry 40-mile race in 2023.

You can read my chat with Ollie after he set his 40 mile record HERE

And you can read my chat with Sarah Webster on her British 100km win at the 

Sri Chinmoy 100km race at perth in March earlier this year HERE

.Full results from the 2024 Gloucester 24 hour race are HERE

Big THANKYOU to Mick McGeogh, long time Barry 40 organiser for his help

with this article.

Finally do check out Katy Young’s  Run Young 50 website for many posts

on Women’s running history.

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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 organising ultra distance races for over 30 years.  Still an active recreational runner, he is currently a member of UKA’s Ultra Running Advisory Group (URAG) and part of the selection and team management for both Scottish and GB ultra teams.He is also a freelance writer in his spare time, contributing articles and reports to several websites and magazines including Athletics Weekly and Irunfar.