1001 Running Kilometres

Photo credit: Natalie White

Ultrarunner, coach and Vertebrate author Robbie Britton has broken the 24-hour British record at Italy's 24 Ore di Torino – a 24-hour continuous race in Turin.

Robbie covered an astonishing distance of 277.439km to take one of the UK’s longest-standing athletics records. The previous race record, held by David Dowdle for 41 years, was 274.480km. 

During the race, Britton sustained an average pace of 5:11min/km for 24 hours. 

Robbie had this to say:

‘I’m a little sore but very happy. The British 24hr record has been a goal for me for so many years; it’s a dream come true to finally run it. It wouldn’t have been possible without my crew on the day: Nats, Jamie, Sarah-Jayne and my Ma Sharon – and 24hr running really is a team sport. My coach – and Runner's World coach – Tom Craggs has played a massive part, too.

The psychological battle was as hard as the physical one out there this weekend. The legs start hurting early doors and you still have eighteen hours to go. The mind wants you to stop, or slow down, and I had to take it one hour at a time to convince myself it was all worth it, that the record was still possible. I love 24hr running, but at times in the race I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the side of the road’

Robbie is the author of our bestselling 1001 Running Tips.