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.
Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to 3 miles 188 yards or 16,404 feet 2 inches. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over 12+1⁄2 laps of a standard track. The same distance in road running is called a 5K run; referring to the distance in metres rather than kilometres serves to disambiguate the two events. The 5000 m has been present on the Olympic programme since 1912 for men and since 1996 for women. Prior to 1996, women had competed in an Olympic 3000 metres race since 1984. The 5000 m has been held at each of the World Championships in Athletics in men's competition and since 1995 in women's.
Marc Lauenstein is a Swiss orienteering competitor and runner. He received a silver medal on the long distance at the 2005 World Orienteering Championships in Aichi, and again in Aarhus in 2006. He earned a bronze medal in 2005 as a member of the Swiss relay team.
Andrea Mayr is a female long-distance runner from Austria. She also competes in mountain running and cycling. She set her personal best (2:30:43) in the women's marathon on April 19, 2009, winning the Vienna City Marathon. She holds the Austrian records over the half marathon and marathon distances.
Judith Wyder is a Swiss orienteering and ski orienteering competitor and runner. Her achievements include gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships and the European Orienteering Championships, both individually and with the Swiss relay team.
Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres. A two-time back-to-back Olympic champion with the Games record and a two-time world champion, she is the only woman to win four global 1500 m titles and only the second woman to claim consecutive Olympic titles in the event. On the track Kipyegon has won or finished second in every major championships since 2015, and is regarded as the greatest female 1500 metres runner in history. She is the world record holder for the distance and for the 5000 metres, and the African record holder for the 1000 metres. With her time of 3:49.11 in the 1500 m, set on 2 June 2023 in Florence, she became the first and the only woman in history to break the 3:50-barrier in the discipline. Just seven days later, Kipyegon set also a 5000 m world record in Paris.
The Kenyan Cross Country Championships is an annual cross country running competition that serves as the national championship for Kenya. It is organised by Athletics Kenya and has permit race status from the International Association of Athletics Federations. It is typically held in February in Nairobi, the country's capital, and entrants are almost exclusively from Kenya. Entrants represent their home region or one of the high level national works teams, such as Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Police, Prisons or Universities. These teams host their own annual team championships in order to decide their selections for the national event.
Bernard Dematteis is an Italian male mountain runner and sky runner, two times senior individual European champion at European Mountain Running Championships.
Martin Dematteis is an Italian male mountain runner and sky runner, one time senior individual European champion at European Mountain Running Championships (2016).
Valentina Belotti is an Italian female mountain runner, world champion at the 2009 World Mountain Running Championships.
Alice Gaggi is an Italian female mountain runner, world champion at the 2013 World Mountain Running Championships.
Xavier Chevrier is an Italian male mountain runner and long-distance runner who won 2017 European Mountain Running Championships.
Victor Kiplangat is a Ugandan mountain runner who won one World Mountain Running Championships (2017).
Lawrence Cherono is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He is currently the 8th fastest marathon performer of all time with his 2:03:04 clocking at the 2020 Valencia Marathon. He clocked 2:04:06 to win the Amsterdam Marathon on October 21, 2018. He also won the Amsterdam Marathon in 2017, running a time of 2:05:09, setting the course record, which he broke in 2018.
Martina Strähl is a Swiss female long-distance runner and mountain runner, world champion at the World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (2015) and twice at the European Mountain Running Championships.
Valentina Bottarelli is a former Italian female long-distance runner and mountain runner who won at individual senior level a silver medal at the World Mountain Running Championships.
Emanuele Manzi is an Italian male mountain runner, who won a medal at individual senior level at the World Mountain Running Championships.
The 25K run is a long distance running footrace that is between the distance of a half marathon and a marathon. It was formerly an official world record distance in road running by World Athletics, but has since been downgraded to world best status. Separately, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians retains world records in the 25K distance. The ARRS holds different standards for records than World Athletics, with exclusions for certain point-to-point races and mixed sex races. As a result its women's world record is 1:26:34 by Nancy Conz, set in 1982.
The 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships was an inaugural event which combined the World Mountain Running Championships and IAU Trail World Championships. The event was organised by the World Mountain Running Association, International Trail Running Association and International Association of Ultrarunners sanctioned by World Athletics. It was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from November 4–6, 2022.
