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Fifty-Kilometer World Record Set at South Africa’s Nedbank Runified 50k Race

Ethiopia’s Ketema Negasa set a new men’s 50k world record of 2:42:07 at the Nedbank Runified 50k Race.
By on May 23, 2021 | Comments
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Ethiopia’s Ketema Negasa set a new men’s 50-kilometer world record of 2:42:07 at the Nedbank Runified 50k Race in South Africa. The event took place on Sunday, May 23, 2021 in the town of Gqeberha, and had around 100 elite runners participating. The previous men’s record had stood since 1988, when South Africa’s Thompson Magawana ran 2:43:20 on his way to winning that year’s Two Oceans Marathon in South Africa, a 56k race.

South Africa’s Irvette Van Zyl won the women’s Nedbank Runified 50k Race in 3:04:23, what is the second-best time for women at the 50k distance. Last month, the USA’s Des Linden set a new 50k world record in 2:59:54 at a small event in Oregon, though her time remains unratified by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU). Prior to Linden, the U.K.’s Aly Dixon ran 3:07:20 in 2019 at the IAU 50k World Championships in Romania, currently the IAU-ratified women’s 50k world record. Linden indicated on social media on Sunday that the ratification process for her performance is in progress, with her having submitted all required information.

Emerging social media shows that six men and two women ran faster than the previous ratified world records.


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Meghan Hicks

Meghan Hicks is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar. She’s been running since she was 13 years old, and writing and editing about the sport for around 15 years. She served as iRunFar’s Managing Editor from 2013 through mid-2023, when she stepped into the role of Editor-in-Chief. Aside from iRunFar, Meghan has worked in communications and education in several of America’s national parks, was a contributing editor for Trail Runner magazine, and served as a columnist at Marathon & Beyond. She’s the co-author of Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running with Bryon Powell. She won the 2013 Marathon des Sables, finished on the podium of the Hardrock 100 Mile in 2021, and has previously set fastest known times on the Nolan’s 14 mountain running route in 2016 and 2020. Based part-time in Moab, Utah and Silverton, Colorado, Meghan also enjoys reading, biking, backpacking, and watching sunsets.