German ultra and trail runner, Florian Neuschwander, broke the indoor world record for 100 km on a treadmill. Just 11 months after breaking the 50 km indoor running world record, Neuschwander set a time of 6h 26m 14s at his local gym, knocking 13 minutes off the previous record set by fellow ultra runner Mario Mendoza from the U.S., who ran 100 km on the treadmill last June in 6h 39m 26s.
39-year-old Neuschwander started the unofficial world record attempt at 9 am on Saturday, Jan. 30, inside a gym in Chiemgau, Germany, supported by hundreds of fans as well as fellow athletes and digital companions on the virtual training platform Zwift. Zwift allowed users to run and cycle alongside Neuschwander. Some of these companions included triathlete Patrick Lange, triathlete Sebastian Kienle and long-distance runner Koko Klosterhalfen. With 5,000 people watching, running or cycling with him, Neuschwander said: “If I’d run 100km on the treadmill alone, with no interaction, I think it would be too much. You can’t do that: when it gets difficult, there’s no one to push you. Digital support was extremely important. That’s the be-all and end-all for such a long run.” The last kilometer (3m 20s) was Neuschwander’s fastest of the 100 km, with an average of 3m 52s per kilometer throughout the entire run.
Since official observers from Guinness World Records – who would normally observe the attempt, log it and ultimately legitimize it – couldn’t be on-site due to strict hygiene requirements, the record is an unofficial one. And even though he just missed the German outdoor 100 km record, Neuschwander was satisfied: “It was awesome. I’ll break that record sometime in autumn, when I hope you can race outdoors again.”
Next up for Neuschwander is the 2021 Wings for Life World Run on May 9 where global runners of all abilities will run via the brand-new Wings for Life app and compete to raise funds for spinal cord injury research.
