IAU Athlete Interviews & News

Satu Lipiäinen of Finland talks to the IAU about her recent 12hr World Record.

You can follow Satu on Instagram @satulipiainen

Virginia is an ultra-distance runner on road and trail. Born in Argentina, she has lived in Italy since she was 20, and represents Italy in endurance events. Virginia has achieved 15 years of racing ultra marathons, with almost 8 000 km covered during nearly 80 races.

Some highlights from her international races that she completed:

IAU World Championship participations:

• 2007 IAU WC 24h Drummondville, 176km
• 2009 IAU WC 24h Bergamo, 183km (silver medal Team Italy)
• 2009 IAU WC Serre Chevalier, 68km
• 2010 IAU WC 24h Brive, 190km
• 2012 IAU WC 24h Katowice, 189km
• 2013 IAU WC 24h Steenberger 209.6km
• 2015 IAU WC Maxi Race du Lac d’Annecy 84km 5300+ (bronze medal Team Italy)
• 2016 IAU WC Trans Peneda-Geres 85km
• 2017 IAU WC 24h Belfast, 182km

Ultra-trail Races best results:

• 2006-2010-2014-2016 four times winner of Cro-magnon Trail 112km 6000+
• 2006 1st woman Porte di Pietra 71km 4200+
• 2007 5th woman UTMB 168km 8200+
• 2014 3rd woman Maxi Race du Lac d’Annecy 84km 5300+
• 2015 1st woman Ultra-Trail des Balcons d’Azur 80km 3700+
• 2016 1st woman Gran Trail Orobie 70km 4500+
• 2016 9th woman CCC 101km 6000+
• 2017 1st woman Maremontana Trail 63km 4000+
• 2017 1st woman Porte di Pietra 71km 4200+

Most important ultramarathon participation:

• 2014 12h San Pedro (Argentina), 114km
• 2015 24h Barcelona, 207km
• 2016 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 32:46
• 2017 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 31:39
• 2018 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 34:48

Nadeem Khan the IAU President in conversation with Jacek Bedowski - IAU Director of Communication on the night before the IAU 24hr European Championships 2022 in Verona Italy.  Reflecting on a discussion we had in Albi at the 24hr World Championships back in 2019 and talking about the future for the IAU.

For further information on the IAU event and news you can visit our website at www.iau-ultramarathon.org

Therese did her first Ultra marathon back in 2013 which was the Stolkholm 50K and since then she has competed at a variety of distances including time based races.  In 2014 she took part in the Bislett 24hr race in Norway and covered a distance of 203.549Km and the following year she represented Norway 24 hour European championships in Torino Italy.

Jump forward to 2021 and Therese took part in the Bislett 24 hour race once again but this time she covered a distance of 261.170Km and set a new European Record.

This distance is the third best distance covered for a Female in a 24hr race and puts her second on the list to Camille Herron who holds the current IAU World Record for 24hrs which stands at 270.116Km set in Albi France at the World Championships 2019.

Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden is an ophthalmologist and medical scientist with research interests in diabetic retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease and retinal imaging biomarker discovery. He has research experience in retinal vascular biology and central nervous system regeneration.  In his spare time he competes in Ultra Running and has represented The Netherlands at European and World Championships.

Jacek Bedowski the IAU Director of Communications talks about the successful Global Solidarity Run weekend 2021 and the plans for next year.

Paula Wright from Finland but living in Ireland was the Athletics Ireland 24hr Champion 2019 and in the same year she represented her home country of Finland in the 24hr World Championships in Albi, France.  Paula has completed over 100 Marathons and would be a familiar face at races throughout Ireland.  

You can follow Paula on Instagram @paulawright_runner

IAU Virtual Global Solidarity Weekend 20–21 March 2021 – invitation

The Global Solidarity Run was a resounding success last year. The global community has gone through several hardships last year. However, given the uphill challenge, the ultra community has stepped up and found ways to stay active and motivated. We wanted to highlight this and have designated the third weekend of March as the IAU Global Solidarity Weekend.

Rolando Espina represented The Philippines in the IAU 24 hour World Championships 2017 in Belfast, Ireland.  He currently holds the National 24hr record with a distance of 218.092Km and holds the course record for the 250Km Manila to Baguio race in The Philippines.

He has completed numerous races of 100 Miles or long and has finished the Spartathlon 4 times.

Outside of running Ronaldo has worked as an ICU Nurse in Ireland for the past 19 years.

Caitriona Jennings is the Irish National 50K Record Holder with a time of 3:19.50.  Caitriona has represented Ireland in the Marathon at the 2012 London Olympics and has also represented Ireland in the 50K World Championships with a 4th place finish in Qatar 2015 and a 7th place finish in Brasov 2019.  Caitriona also finished 3rd in the 2019 Comrades Marathon with a time of 6:24.12.  

Instagram: @jenningscaitriona

Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner. She is the first athlete to win all three of the IAU's 50K, 100K, and 24 Hour World Championships.  

Camille holds the World Best performances at the following distances and surfaces:

50 miles (80 km) Road 5h38min41s.  6:46 per mile (4:12 per km)

100 miles (160 km) Road/Trail 12h42min40s.  7:37 per mile (4:43 per km)

100 miles (160 km) Track (24Hr split) 13h25min00s.  8:03 per mile (5:00 per km)

12 Hours Road (24Hr split) 90.857 miles (146.220 km) 7:55 per mile (4:55 per km)

12 Hours Track 92.66 miles (149.12 km) 7:46 per mile (4:49 per km)

24 Hours Road 270.116 kilometres (167.842 mi) 8:35 per mile (5:20 per km)

24 Hours Track 262.192 kilometres (162.919 mi) 8:50 per mile (5:30 per km)

www.runwithcamille.com

Eddie Gallen made his International debut at the  IAU 24hr European Championships 2007 in Madrid, Spain.  In the same year he took part in the IAU 24hr World Championships in Drummondville, Canada.  Since then Eddie has take part in all the IAU 2hr World & European Championship.   In this podcast Eddie talks about some of his ultra running experiences 

The IAU President Nadeem Khan discussed the further development of ultra-running in different countries and regions. We asked Pablo Barnes (Argentina), Sunil Chainani (India), Josè Daniel Vaz Cabral (Cape Verde) and Mirsad Abdakovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) to share their experiences, vision for next years.  Podcast by John O’Regan and Jacek Bedkowski

Alyson Dixon from Great Britain won gold medal and set a new World Best Performance (currently under ratification process) for 50 km in an amazing time of 3:07:20. She improved on the 30 year old record set in 1989 by South Africa’s Frith van der Merwe 3:08:39.  In this episode Alyson is in conversation with Joanna Zakrzewski, the British Team Manager.