How Courtney Olsen Set a New World Record for 50 Miles The 37-year-old from Bellingham took down a historic mark set by ultrarunning legend Ann Trason in 1991 Olsen trailed early women’s leader Andrea Pomaranski by a minute or so through the 26.5-mile mark of the race, but eventually caught and passed her near 32 miles and then picked up the pace over the final 10 miles to the finish. On November 9, Olsen blazed the mostly flat and fast Tunnel Hill 50 race in Vienna, Illinois, racing her way to a new women’s 50-mile world record of 5:31:56 (pending ratification). That’s 6:38 per mile pace for 50 consecutive miles, or just short of back-to-back 2:54 marathons. In doing so, Olsen shattered the historic mark of 5:40:18 set by ultrarunning phenom Ann Trason in 1991. Hoka is her sponsor but didn't cover the cost of her drug test to certify the world record and will be dropping her after this year. She literally couldn't do anything more to earn a sponsorship, but since she's not in a sport that is spectator friendly she's going to be without a sponsor. World class athletes in other countries are compensated to encourage excellence. I really believe we should do that in the US as well.
Yeah, sometimes. When you're breaking a 30 year old world record our country (the wealthiest in the history of the world) could kick in a few bucks.
