Japan’s Miho Nakata jumped into the spotlight in the ultrarunning world on Saturday, December 2, setting the women’s 24-hour world record of 167.996 miles (270.363 kilometers) at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships in Taipei.
She beat the previous record set by Camille Herron of 167.842 miles (270.116k) at the 2019 IAU 24-Hour World Championships held in Albi, France.
Nakata averaged a pace of just under 8:34 minutes per mile (just under 5:20 minutes per kilometer). To put it in perspective, after 24 hours of running, she beat the previous distance by a little over half a lap of a track, or 810 feet (247 meters).
Japan’s Miho Nakata celebrates after setting a new women’s 24-hour world record at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships in Taipei on December 1 and 2. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
This year’s IAU 24-Hour World Championships took place over a 1.24-mile (2k) loop. Nakata stayed out front for the majority of the race, increasing her gap on the women’s field and eventually smashing the world record.
Nakata’s multi-year history with ultrarunning is peppered with national- and a couple international-level results. Last year, she took sixth at the IAU 100k World Championships by running 7:19. It appears she’s also run as fast as 13:09 for 100 miles.
Read our 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships results article for the full race story.
Japan’s Miho Nakata working hard during the final hour of her world-record-setting effort at the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships, held in Taipei on December 1 and 2. Photo: International Association of Ultrarunners
