Michael Wardian breaks 50K treadmill record in second attempt

Over the weekend, in a span of 30 hours, Michael Wardian ran two 50K treadmill sessions, both times thinking he had set the world record.

Wardian, an ultrarunner, was on a cruise ship operated by Spartan Race and had just completed one of the company’s obstacle races and wanted to attempt a 50K record after the obstacle race. He ran 3:06:24, a time which bested what he believed to be the record, but was notified through social media the mark to beat was actually 3:05:57, set by UK ultrarunnner Paul Navesey in December of 2014.

So, correction looks like my research was poor as this dude was faster than me:… http://t.co/O4qjR7dLym

— michael wardian (@mikewardian) March 8, 2015

Wardian rested for less than a single day and got back on the treadmill, this time running 3:03:56, two minutes under Navesey’s mark. All of this on a cruise ship, moving with the ocean.

Wardian is also an accomplished ultrarunner, having won multiple US championships over various distances, but has also made a name for himself beating odd records, many on treadmills, and racing multiple marathon in a single day.

Ice cool down after treadmill World Record. Thank you @travismacy for being there and picture #spartanrace #spartancruise

A photo posted by Michael Wardian (@mikewardian) on Mar 9, 2015 at 4:36am PDT