Jim Walmsley, Camille Herron hope to chase 100K records at Project Carbon X 2 event

Hoka One One kicked 2021 off with huge news, announcing plans for Project Carbon X 2, an event in which 40 elite ultrarunners will attempt to break the men’s and women’s 100K world records. This is the second edition of the event (the first took place in May 2019), and it is set to feature some of the world’s best, including world record holders Jim Walmsley and Camille Herron. There will be two races, one in Chiba, Japan, and the other in Phoenix, Ariz., both held on January 23 with all athletes looking to make history. 

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Project Carbon X

While the first Project Carbon X race didn’t see 100K records, it could still be considered a success, as it did see one record from Walmsley over 50 miles. He ran 4:50:08 to beat the previous national best by 43 seconds, although soon after posting that time, he slowed to a walk. He ended up finishing the race in fourth place in 7:05:24, far off the world record of 6:09:14 (set by Japan’s Nao Kazami in 2018) that he had been chasing. Japanese runner Hideaki Yamauchi ultimately won the men’s race in 6:19:54. On the women’s side, American Sabrina Little was the lone finisher, posting a time of 7:49:28, well off the world record of 6:33:11, which was set by Japan’s Tomoe Abe in 2000.

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Another shot 

Due to COVID-19, the Japanese contingent won’t be able to race in Arizona, but they’ll still have the opportunity to race at home. Both runs will start at 7 a.m. local time on January 23, meaning the Japanese race will be done long before the North American racers start their event. This means that there could be a pair of new world records that the runners in Arizona have to beat by the time they wake up on race morning.

First time meeting Camille was in 2015 at the 100km World Championships in Winschoten where she went on to win. Full circle, see you again as teammates at the 100km Project Carbon X2 Jan 23rd ?? #timetofly https://t.co/dj8a2th0up

— Jim Walmsley (@walmsleyruns) January 1, 2021

The lineup for the Japanese race hasn’t been posted, but the Arizona event features several big names. On the men’s side, Walmsley will be joined by close to 20 other runners, including 2020 JFK 50 winner Hayden Hawks. Unless the record falls in Japan in the first race, 6:09:14 will be the time to beat. There will be seven women in total racing in Arizona, and Herron (who only recently signed with Hoka) will certainly be a threat to challenge Abe’s 20-year-old record. 

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The full lineups set for the race in Arizona are listed below: 

Women

Caitriona Jennings (IRE)

Camille Herron (USA)

Carla Molinaro (UK)

Courtney Olsen (USA)

Devon Yanko (USA)

Nicole Monette (USA)

Audrey Tanguy (FRA)

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Men

Tyler Andrews (USA)

Kris Brown (USA)

Fernando Cabada (USA)

Sage Canady (USA)

Dion Finocchiaro (AUS)

Tim Freriks (USA)

Hayden Hawks (USA)

Jared Hazen (USA)

Joacim Lantz (SWE)

John Lantz (SWE)

Kyle Masterson (USA)

Elov Olsson (SWE)

Rajpaul Pannu (USA)

Patrick Reagan (USA)

Peter Van Der Son (NED)

Jim Walmsley (USA)

Cole Wilson (USA)