Advertisement
Extreme fitness
OutdoorTrail Running

Meet Aleksandr Sorokin, the Lithuanian breaking world records on the lunatic fringes of ultra running

  • They said the 24-hour running record was unbreakable, before Sorokin attempted it
  • Lithuanian holds distance and time records throughout extreme ultra running

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
1
Aleksandr Sorokin after winning Spartathlon, a 246km race from Athens to the location of ancient Sparta, in 2017. Photo: Spartathlon
Pavel Toropov
When Aleksandr “Sania” Sorokin finally stopped running on the August 29 in a park in Poland, there were no cheering crowds. They missed the breaking of one of the longest-standing endurance records – how far a human can run in 24 hours. Sorokin ran 309,399 kilometres, beating by almost six kilometres the mark set in 1997 by the legendary Yiannis Kouros, a record that was considered unbeatable.
Advertisement

Forty-year-old Sorokin, from Lithuania, has few rivals in the purest form of ultra-running – racing, colossal distances, in loops on a road or running track. There is no fancy gear, no spectacular landscapes. Considered the lunatic fringe of the sport, it is followed only by hardcore fans. Sponsors are not interested.

Sorokin, the world champion in 24-hour running, and world record-holder at 100 miles (11 hours, 14 minutes and 56 seconds) and in 12-hour running (170,309km), covers these colossal distances fast.

His pace, when he broke the 24-hour world record was 4:39 seconds per kilometre, equivalent to more than seven back-to-back marathons, at 3:15 each. Running marathons “for training”, Sorokin set a 2:40 personal best.

Advertisement

It was the pandemic that finally allowed Sorokin to beat Kouros’ record. Before lockdowns started, he worked full-time as a casino croupier.

Advertisement