100 km (road), women

What to remember

By Lake Saroma, in Yūbetsu on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, an official IAAF ultramarathon is held every year. On June 25, 2000, Tomoe Abe ran 100 kilometres there in 6 h 33 min 11.00 s, an average of 15.260 km/h.

The Japanese runner came from the standard marathon. She had won bronze at the 1993 World Championships in 2:31:01, and her best time, 2:26:09, came when she won the 1994 Osaka Ladies' Marathon.

An ultramarathon is any footrace longer than the 42.195 km of the marathon. The shortest common one is 50 km, and 100 miles (160 km) is typically the longest course raced in under 24 hours. The oldest and largest ultramarathons are held on roads, such as the Comrades Marathon, with more than 10,000 finishers a year.