“Seeing what’s humanly possible” events like Breaking2 and Breaking4 have come to ultrarunning, this time with adidas setting up a no-holds-barred attempt at breaking six hours for 100 kilometers — and South Africa’s Sibusiso Kubheka did it.
Kubheka crossed the finish line in 5:59:20 at the Chasing 100 event hosted by adidas at the Nardò Ring auto-racing track in southern Italy during the overnight time trial ending on August 26, 2025.
Sibusiso Kubheka on his way to running sub-six hours for 100 kilometers at the Chasing 100 event. Photo: adidas
While this is faster than the current 100k world record of 6:05:35, run by Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin at the 2023 World’s Fastest Run event in Vilnius, Lithuania, it won’t be a world record. Chasing 100 included what appeared to be a pace car, water bottle provisions by moving cyclists, and Adizero Evo Prime X prototypes of unknown stack heights. Still, Kubheka ran astonishing pace of 5:47 minutes per mile or 3:36 minutes per kilometer.
A group shot of the Chasing 100 event in August of 2025. Photo: adidas
Kubheka noted after the race, “I’m so proud of my performance out there today. Breaking this record and becoming the first person to run 100k in under 6 hours was not easy — but thanks to adidas’ partnership, belief, and bespoke technologies, we made it happen. When we combine the best athletes, the right preparation, and sports innovation, anything is possible.”
Notably, both Charlie Lawrence (6:03:47) of the U.S. and Sorokin (6:04:10) also ran under Sorokin’s world record time. That also means that Lawrence ran faster than the U.S. national record and North American record while Sorokin once again ran under his own the Lithuanian national and European records. Lawerence previously set the 50-mile world record of 4:48:21 at the 2023 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile (post-race interview). As for the Lithuanian, Sorokin has set and more more ultra-distance world records than we can adequately recount in a sentence.
With the arrival of a commercial time trial event exploring the limits of combined human potential and current technology, it’s clear that it’s more than just the times that are changing.
Aleksandr Sorokin during the Chasing 100 event in Italy in August 2025. Photo: adidas
