Read the latest positive news, breakthroughs, and inspiring stories about endurance athletics, curated daily by BrightWire.
Chinese ultrarunner Jiaju Zhao just shattered the course record at one of the world's toughest mountain races, finishing a 330-mile alpine course in under 66 hours. His winning time beat the previous record by more than eight hours.
A middle school math teacher from Santa Fe just ran farther in six days than any woman in history, becoming the first to break 1,000 kilometers and beating every man in the race. Megan Eckert covered 636 miles around a lakeside loop in Hungary, finishing more than 50 miles ahead of her nearest competitor.
New Zealand's Sophie Woods ran 1,243 miles across the Alps in 29 days, beating the fastest man's time by over a week. She's part of a growing wave of women breaking men's records in ultra-endurance sports, where science shows the gender gap nearly disappears.
Dr. Sarah Ruggins just cycled 6,000 kilometers across Europe in under 14 days, smashing the previous record held by a man. Even more remarkable? She only started cycling two years ago after recovering from a rare neurological disease.
Ashley Paulson just ran 100 miles in 12 hours, 19 minutes, averaging 7:21 per mile and shattering the previous world record by 17 minutes. The 44-year-old ultrarunner proved that dreams don't have an expiration date.
