Aly Dixon breaks 50K world record by over a minute

Great Britain’s Aly Dixon smashed the 50K world record at the 50K World Championships on Sunday in Brasov, Romania. Dixon ran a 3:07:20 to break the record in her first-ever ultra marathon. The previous record was held by Frith Van de Merwe in 3:08:39 from 1989.

RELATED: Recovery tips from marathoner Calum Neff

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The British runner is 40 years old with a very successful marathon career to back her. The runner’s personal best is a 2:29:06 from the 2017 London World Championships. She was 16th at this year’s Boston Marathon. Evidently Dixon was built for long distance as her first attempt at ultramarathoning was a huge success. The course was run in loops with under 30m of elevation gain.

Helen Davies, also of Great Britain, was second in 3:09:16. Spain’s Alicia Perez claimed bronze in 3:15:09. Canadian Catherine Royer was 29th in 3:37:08.

⁦50k World Championships, 16th in the World, Top Canadian ?? 2:57:58 for an over 12 minute PR!!! Team Canada did incredible! @iaunews⁩ #Brasoz50k #ultrarunning #PR #TeamCanada ⁦@HARRANews⁩

Check out my run on Strava.https://t.co/ZlMxiZ8iaV pic.twitter.com/AMbMNqUifE

— Calum Neff (@CalNeff) September 1, 2019

Calum Neff was the first Canadian across the line in 2:57:58 for 16th place in the men’s race. Olivier Roy-Baillargeon was 38th in 3:08:40 and Sanjay Sachdev was 39th in 3:09:03. Neff holds the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon (2:31:21) and fastest half-marathon while pushing a stroller.

Neff fell a little short of his goal of breaking the long-standing Canadian 50K record of 2:53:20 set by Andy Jones in 1991 in Houston, TX, but certainly came within striking distance. Complete results can be found here.