Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running. Included in its charge are the standardization of rules and regulations for the sports, certification of athletic facilities, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships. The organisation's president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom, who was elected in 2015 and re-elected unopposed in 2019 for a further four years.
An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometres. Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of 31 miles (50 km) to over 200 miles (320 km). 50k and 100k are both World Athletics record distances, but some 100 miles (160 km) races are among the oldest and most prestigious events, especially in North America.
Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) is the world governing body of ultra running, race events longer than the marathon distance of 42.2 km. It regulates and sanctions the World Championships for various ultramarathon distances, and tracks world records in ultra distance races approved by IAU. IAU operates under the patronage of the World Athletics and follows World Athletics rules.
A 24-hour run is a form of ultramarathon, in which a competitor runs as far as they can in 24 hours. They are typically held on 1- to 2-mile loops or occasionally 400-meter tracks.
International Trail Running Association (ITRA) is the governing body for trail running. It was formed in 2013, emerging from the 1st International Trail Running Conference held in 2012. Trail running was first recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2015 as a discipline of athletics. ITRA has, among other things, developed a points system for ranking the difficulty of specific trail routes and tracking the performance of runners across races.
In 2012 the foremost competition in athletics was the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The International Association of Athletics Federations held four other global level competitions in 2012: the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2012 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics and the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
The IAU 100 km World Championships have been held annually since 1987, at different locations, and is organized by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU). Due to lack of sponsorship, the 2013 event, planned for Jeju Island, South Korea, was cancelled and the 2014 event, originally due to be held at Daugavpils, Latvia, was held instead in Doha, Qatar.
In 2013, the foremost competition in athletics was the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow. The International Association of Athletics Federations will hold two other global level competitions this year: the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics. The IAAF World Cross Country Championships will return after its move to a biennial format.
The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international athletics competition in long-distance relay running. First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four editions, with its last one occurring in 1998.
Eleanor Robinson is a British former ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the IAU 100 km European Championships.
Jacquelyn Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner. She is the first and only athlete to win all three of the road IAU World Championships for 50K, 100K, and 24 Hours. As of June 2023, she held a number of world records on the track and road, including 50 miles (road), 100 miles, 24-hr run, and 48-hr run (track).
The IAU 24 Hour World Championship is an international 24-hour run competition organised by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU). Since 2015, the World Championship has alternated annually with the IAU 100 km World Championships.
Ferenc Győri (born September 15, 1964 in Kiskunfélegyháza, Hungary) is a Hungarian ultramarathon runner, geographer, and university lecturer.
The IAU 100 km European Championships is an annual, ultrarunning competition over 100 kilometres for European athletes. It is organised by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and was first held in 1992 – five years after the launched of the World Championships for the distance. The competition features both an individual and national team component. The team race is decided by aggregated the three best times set by a nation's athletes.
The IAU 50 km World Championships is an annual, global ultrarunning competition over 50 kilometres organized by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU).
The IAU Trail World Championships are annual trail running World Championships, from 2007 up to 2015 was biennial, held for the first time in Huntsville, United States in 2007 and organised by International Association of Ultrarunners.
Johan Steene is a Swedish ultramarathon runner, most notable for winning the 2018 Big Dog's Backyard Ultra, at which he completed 68 laps or 283.335 miles of the course in 67 hours 48 minutes and 36 seconds, thus setting a new record on the course and beating notable ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter. In 2017, Steene took a bronze medal in the IAU 24 Hour World Championship, after completing 266.515 km in 24 hours.
The 2019 Trail World Championships was the ninth edition of the global trail running competition, organised by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) and International Trail Running Association (ITRA). It was held on 8 June 2019 in Miranda do Corvo, Portugal. The event was hosted by the annual Ultra Trilhos dos Abutres and featured a course of 44 km in distance with uphills totalling 2120 m and downhills totalling 1970 m. The men's individual race was won by Great Britain's Jonathan Albon and the women's individual race was won by France's Blandine L'Hirondel. France won both the men's and women's team rankings.
