American woman smashes 6-day world record (with 600+ miles)
U.S. runner Meg Eckert ran 603.156 miles (970.685 km) at the 6-day World Championships in France, smashing the previous record set by Camille Herron in 2024
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Mount to Coast
On Saturday, New Mexico teacher and coach Megan Eckert broke the women’s world record for the 6-day event at the 2025 GOMU 6-Day World Championship in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France, surpassing Camille Herron’s world best of 560.33 miles (901.764 km), set at Lululemon’s Further event in 2024–and there were still nine hours left in the race. Eckert finished with a mind-boggling 603.156 miles (970.685 km); she’s the first woman in the world to surpass the 600-mile mark in a 6-day race. (The record is pending ratification.)
Ivan Zaborsky of Russia won the men’s race, with 650.920 miles (1,047.554 km), which was also a new world record, though it was not clear whether he would break it until near the very end. (According to iRunFar, his achievement surpasses the previous record set by Matthieu Bonne by 1.26 miles (2.03 km).
The race, which started April 28 and ended Sunday, takes place over 144 hours of continuous activity; it was the third edition of the GOMU 6-day world championship. Racers are free to rest and refuel on their own schedule, but the clock never stops.
It was only Eckert’s second time racing a 6-day event, and represented a significant improvement over her first (and previous best) result of 526 miles (857 km), from 2024. After her victory, Eckert told organizers, “I didn’t know I was going to break the world record—you never know when you start racing. I come here with the goal to reach 600 miles. The last day is incredibly tough, trying to get myself back out there, lap after lap, to push through that barrier.”
Trishul Cherns, president of GOMU (Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners), issued a statement about Eckert’s achievement: “Meg Eckert becomes the first woman in history to run 600 miles (966 km) in six days, averaging 100 miles (161 km) per day. She sets the women’s World Best Performance recognized by the IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) and breaks multiple world records for non-standard multi-day ultra distances, recognised by GOMU.”
Stine Rex of Denmark actually broke Herron’s record in September 2024, with 567.688 miles (913.606 km), but it has not been ratified.
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