Zach Bitter Runs 100 Miles in 11:40, Setting New American Record

We don’t often write about track meets here at Trail Runner—only when they’re 24 hours long.

Zach Bitter, 29, used the 24-hour/100-mile Desert Solstice Invitational at Phoenix, Arizona’s Central High School track to set a new 100-mile American record of 11:40:55.

That’s approximately seven minutes per mile. For 100 miles.

Bitter broke his own record, set in 2013 at the same race, by almost seven minutes, proving he is still America’s best ultrarunner in timed, loop and track events.

(The world best in 100 miles is 11:28:03, clocked by the Russian runner Oleg Kharitonov in 2002, according to stats compiled by the International Association of Ultrarunners.)

Mark Richtman, 60, on his way to a 60-64 world record in 50K. Photo courtesy Aravaipa Running

Bitter’s was not the only record set this weekend. Mark Richtman, 60, of Novato, California, used the race to set new American 60-64 age-group records on the track for 20K (1:26:42), 25K (1:48:22), two hours (we don’t have the exact distance yet), 30K (2:09:41) and 20 miles (2:18:58), and set the world age-group record at 50K (3:34:35), according to Aravaipa Running, the organization directing the race.

Pete Kostelnick, 28, of Lincoln, Nebraska, won the 24-hour event, covering 163.54 miles, according to the race’s live tracking. Catalan Nagy, 36, of Sarasota, Florida, repeated as top female and third overall, with 129 miles.

Live results can be found here.