How you can help some Ontario athletes reclaim a Guinness World Record
On July 7, a group of Canadian athletes are aiming to break the Guinness World Record for a 100 women x 100-mile relay, and they need your help!
Have you ever wanted to write your name in the history books and be part of a world record? Now is your chance. On July 7 at McMaster University in Hamilton, two of the city’s track clubs, Harbour Track Club and Hamilton Olympic Club, are putting together a team to go after the Guinness World Record for a 100 women x 100-mile relay.
The time to beat for the 100 women x 100-mile relay is nine hours and 18 minutes, set last year (an average pace of just under 3:30/km). McMaster University track and field coach and former two-time Canadian Olympian Paula Schnurr (1992 and 1996) previously held the record for 23 years, until it was broken by a group of female distance runners from San Francisco last June.
Now Schnurr and Hamilton Olympic Club coach Patti Moore are assembling a team to go after the record they once held. “We are looking for nine hours and 10 minutes or better,” said Schnurr.
When Schnurr and Moore first lost the record, they started thinking about ways to get it back. When 73 Canadian women ran under 5:05 for 1,500m at Hamilton HOKA 1,500m night last July, Moore told Schnurr that Ontario had the talent to potentially reclaim the record. The catch: the record requires 100 individual women to each run a mile leg at 5:30 per mile or faster during this continuous event.
According to Guinness World Records, the track needs to be surveyed and measured to qualify for a world record. The event also will need two cameras to record the race continuously, as well as human timekeepers in addition to the electronic timing system. Pacers are not allowed. The results will need to be verified by Guinness World Records, which can take three months.
“We are inviting all Canadian female athletes to apply for a leg of the relay,” says Moore. “We want to have some of the fastest women in Canada competing as a celebration of Canadian track and field.”
The name of the July 7 event will be 100 Women CAN–an ode to the challenge and strength of Canadian female distance running. The only criteria for women looking to sign up is a time of 5:05 for 1,500m or a sub-19:00 5K.
The event will take place at the McMaster University track in Hamilton, on July 7, starting at 9 a.m. and hoping to finish shortly after 6 p.m. “We want the community to come out and cheer and give support,” says Schnurr. “There’s no registration fee, and a shirt for everyone who participates.”
If you’d like to apply to be a part of the 100 Women CAN relay event, you can fill out an application form here or head to their official Instagram page. Let’s bring this record home and keep it here,” echo Moore and Schnurr. If you have any questions or help in some way, you can reach out to 100xmile@gmail.com.
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