Battling heat and poor air quality in New Delhi, India, athletes from Great Britain dominated the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships. The world championships were originally scheduled for December 7, 2025, but were postponed due to poor air quality just two weeks before the event. Three months later, on March 14, 2026, runners gathered at 4 a.m. local time to take on 10 laps of a five-kilometer L-shaped loop through the roads of New Delhi.
Alex Milne (Great Britain) winning the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
Although the 4 a.m. start allowed athletes to avoid the worst of the heat and pollution levels, the air quality index was 178 at the start time, a level that is considered unhealthy, and the temperature hovered near 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit). The combination made for challenging conditions from the start. However, these factors didn’t stop Alex Milne (Great Britain) from executing a perfectly paced race that kept him near the front in the opening half, before moving into the lead around 35 kilometers into the race to win in 2:46:09, well under his previous best of 2:51:25.
Naomi Robinson dominated the women’s race from 10k, extending her lead over the second half to finish in 3:13:39, almost four minutes ahead of second place.
Read on to see how the two races played out.
2026 IAU 50k World Championships Men’s Race
Canada’s Sergio Ráez Villanueva set the pace in the opening 5k, completing the loop in 16:19, around 20 seconds ahead of a chasing group composed of Haruki Okayama of Japan, Alex Milne and Logan Smith of Great Britain, and Abdulaziz Mahammedsalih Ebrahim of Norway.
Villanueva increased his lead over the following laps, hitting the halfway point in 1:22:59, around 45 seconds ahead of the chasing pack of Okayama, Milne, and Smith. Ebrahim started to struggle around the halfway point and lost contact with the chase group, and soon he was running with Kevin Campbell and Charlie Davis, both of Great Britain. Soon after, Okayama also started to struggle and fell off the pace of the lead chase group. At 30k, Villanueva continued to lead, Smith and Milne chased 30 seconds back, and Campbell, Davis, Okayama, Sean Michael Hogan, and Henry Hart — all on Team Great Britain except for Okayama — chased another 25 seconds back.
Charlie Davis finishing second at the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
Milne moved into the lead at 35k, coming through in 1:56:56, nine seconds ahead of Smith, 22 seconds ahead of Villanueva, who was fading fast, and 45 seconds ahead of Davis and Campbell.
Alex Milne held onto his lead to win the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships in 2:46:09. It was a new European record, beating Aleksandr Sorokin’s previous record of 2:53:51. Charlie Davis dug deep over the final lap to move to overtake Smith to finish second in 2:47:14. Logan Smith rounded off the podium in 2:47:29. Sean Michael Hogan was fourth in 2:47:59, and Henry Hart finishes in fifth in 2:48:32.
Campbell made it a top six sweet for Great Britain, finishing in 2:48:52, and early frontrunners Okayama and Villanueva finished in eighth and ninth, respectively.
2026 IAU 50k World Championships Men’s Results
- Alex Milne (Great Britain) — 2:46:09
- Charlie Davis (Great Britain) — 2:47:14
- Logan Smith (Great Britain) — 2:47:29
- Sean Michael Hogan (Great Britain) — 2:47:59
- Henry Hart (Great Britain) — 2:48:32
- Kevin Campbell (Great Britain) — 2:48:52
- Remigijus Kančys (Lithuania) — 2:49:55
- Haruki Okayama (Japan) — 2:50:44
- Sergio Ráez Villanueva (Canada) — 2:54:47
- Tirtha Kumar Pun (India) — 2:54:52
Great Britain won the team event with a truly dominant performance, taking the top six spots. India was second in the team standings, and Team USA finished in third.
The 2026 IAU 50k World Championships men’s podium (left to right): 2. Charlie Davis (Great Britain), 1. Alex Milne (Great Britain), 3. Logan Smith (Great Britain). Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
2026 IAU 50k World Championships Women’s Race
Katrina Ballantyne of Great Britain went out hard, coming through the first 5k in 18:12, 15 seconds ahead of teammate Naomi Robinson. A chasing pack composed of Melissah Gibson and Becky Briggs of Great Britain, Dominika Stelmach (Poland), and Sophie Seward (U.S.) came through 30 seconds off the lead.
Robinson closed the gap over the next 5k, coming through 10k just two seconds behind Ballantyne. Stelmach was just over a minute behind, and Briggs, Seward, and Gibson continued to run together, about 90 seconds off the lead.
Naomi Robinson (Great Britain) winning the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
Over the next 15k, Robinson moved into the lead, and by the halfway point, was 35 seconds ahead of second-place Ballantyne with a 25k split of 1:34:12. The two leaders had significantly increased their distance to the rest of the field, and it would ultimately stay like this for the rest of the race. Stelmach came through halfway in third place in 1:37:40, over three minutes off the lead and firmly in no-woman’s land. Her teammates, the Polish duo of Magdalena Patas and Monika Brzozowska were running together step-for-step 95 seconds behind, just ahead of Nomine-Erdene Bayartogtokh of Mongolia.
The race began to take its toll on Stelmach as she came through 40k, and Bayartogtokh had moved into third, with the three Polish teammates all running together just 15 seconds outside the final podium position. Brzozowska made her move in the final 10k, overtaking Bayartogtokh and opening nearly a minute gap on her by 45k.
Katrina Ballantyne finishing second at the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
Meanwhile, at the front, Naomi Robinson continued to extend her lead over the closing kilometers to win the 2026 IAU 50k World Championships in 3:13:39. Katrina Ballantyne held on comfortably to her second place over the final laps to finish in 3:17:24. In the fight for the final place on the podium, it was Monika Brzozowska who managed to take third place in in 3:19:03. Magdalena Patas finished in fourth in 3:20:24, and Nomine-Erdene Bayartogtokh was fifth in 3:20:32.
Stelmach was sixth in 3:22:06, and early frontrunners Briggs and Gibson finished in seventh and 17th.
2026 IAU 50k World Championships Women’s Results
- Naomi Robinson (Great Britain) — 3:13:39
- Katrina Ballantyne (Great Britain) — 3:17:24
- Monika Brzozowska (Poland) — 3:19:03
- Magdalena Patas (Poland) — 3:20:24
- Nomine-Erdene Bayartogtokh (Mongolia) — 3:20:32
- Dominika Stelmach (Poland) — 3:22:06
- Becky Briggs (Great Britain) — 3:22:36
- Věrna Černá (Germany) — 3:26:21
- Sarangua Bayaraa (Mongolia) — 3:27:33
- Hina Shiozaki (Japan) — 3:27:41
In the team event that counted the top three finishers from each country, Team Great Britain won the women’s team race as well, beating out second-place Poland. Japan finished in third.
The 2026 IAU 50k World Championships women’s podium (left to right): 2. Katrina Ballantyne (Great Britain), 1. Naomi Robinson (Great Britain), 3. Monika Brzozowska (Poland). Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
