Caitriona Jennings, a 45-year-old ultrarunner from Donegal, shattered the women's world record for 100 miles at the Tunnel Hill 100 Mile in Illinois, finishing in 12 hours, 37 minutes and 4 seconds. Her average pace was 7 minutes 34 seconds per mile, equivalent to maintaining a 3-hour 17-minute marathon pace for over nine hours. Remarkably, Jennings had never run more than 60 miles in a single effort before this race.
After her record-breaking run, Jennings flew economy from Chicago to Dublin, landing at 5am, and cycled straight to her office at a company that trades and leases planes. She dismissed the idea of being a superwoman, noting that while running 100 miles seemed crazy initially, she decided to test her limits. She trained before work, during lunch breaks, and ran 48-64 miles every weekend to prepare.
Jennings described the hardest part of the race as the mental challenge after 60 miles. Her coach, Terry McConnon, praised her endurance and pain tolerance, recalling that she finished the London 2012 Olympic marathon despite a stress fracture in her foot. Jennings acknowledged that suffering is part of the sport: 'If you are going to run that fast, for that long, you’re going to hurt unless you’re superhuman.'
Jennings is not alone in her 40s excelling at ultrarunning. In October, Sarah Webster, a 46-year-old vet from East Sussex, set a women's 24-hour world record of 173.1 miles. Jasmin Paris, who became the first woman to complete the Barkley marathon last year, trained from 5am to 7.45am before her children woke up. She said ultrarunning reveals more about oneself when comfort is stripped away.
A new film, 'Run Again,' follows singer Dave Pen's attempt to finish the 268-mile Spine Race. Pen, who completed the race in 145 hours 44 minutes, described his motivation: 'I wanted to do something other people don’t do. I like extremes.' The film premieres in London on Thursday.
Adharanand Finn, author of 'The Rise of the Ultrarunners,' likens ultrarunning to a metaphor for life, with its struggles and revivals. He cites a tattoo on Spanish ultra-athlete Azara García de los Salmones that reads: 'The devil whispered in my ear: “You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.” I whispered back: “I am the storm.”' When asked about this, Jennings laughed and called it an interesting perspective.
