Canada’s Viktoria Brown breaks the 72-hour world record

Canada’s Viktoria Brown has done it again. The Whitby, Ont. native ran 464 kilometres in 72 hours at the Jackpot Ultra Festival in Henderson, Nevada over the weekend, breaking the previous record that was set 32 years ago.

The previous record was held by New Zealand’s Sandy Barwick, who ran 460 kilometres over 3 days in 1990 on her way to setting the six-day world record, which still stands to this day at 883 km. Brown’s record has yet to be ratified, but once it is, this will be her first world record. She already has three Canadian records, including the 48-hour (346 kilometres), the 72-hour (440 kilometres) and most recently, she became the first Canadian woman to run 100 miles in under 15 hours at the Desert Solstice 24-hour and 100-mile Track Invitational, setting a new Canadian record in 14:57:13.

“My main goal was to go 3 days deep once more before I attempt a 6-day race and try to find solutions to logistical, gear and nutritional issues as well as handling my asthma for such long races,” says Brown. “The course itself wasn’t flat or easy which made this a harder challenge than I had expected.”

To make matters more challenging, her crew chief’s flight got cancelled due to storms and was unable to make it to the race, so her friend had to step up and fill his shoes, barely sleeping for the entire 72 hours. Still, they managed to pull it off. By the third day, Brown knew she was very close to the record, but if she wanted to surpass Barwick’s distance, she couldn’t afford to take any walk breaks. “I’m very happy with the result, but I believe I can do better on an easier course, and I also know that if I want to go after the six-day record, then I will have to do better for the first three days,” says Brown.

With yet another record under her belt, Brown shows no sign of slowing down, and Canadian ultrarunning fans will be watching to see what she does next.