British runner breaks 48-hour running record
Not content with breaking Britain's 24-hour run record at the European Championships in Verona in September 2022, with 247,985 km, Zakrzewski headed for the world's best at the Ultramarathon in Taipei over the weekend.
With 410,843km, Zakrzewski not only broke the world record of Patricia Bereznowska, but also broke the British men's and women's records. On average, Zakrzewski ran more than 8km per hour for two days. However, this achievement of her still needs to be appraised to be declared the best in the world.
Previously, the best achievement a British athlete has ever achieved was 366 km for Hilary Walker (women) and 401 km for Richard Brown (male). Walker, now Secretary General of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), set the record at the British seaside resort of Blackpool in 1988, while Brown - another British ultra-runner - hit the mark. 401 km in Surgeres, France in 1991.
This was Zakrzewski's first 48-hour run, but not her first in such a period. In 2021, this runner won the Ultra UK Championship, the event with a run of 346.01 km (215 miles), in 2 days, 14 hours and 20 minutes.
Zakrzewski has represented the UK many times, from 50km, 100km, Ultra-marathon to 24 hours. She also donned the colors of her native Scotland for the marathon at the Commonwealth Games.
The 48-hour run, which has its roots in the Victorian pedestrian sport, sees runners compete on a circuit track to see who runs the greatest distance in a 48-hour period. Time continues to pass for every stop, every sleep, and every toilet visit. The end result is the distance each runner can travel in two days.
Dr Jamie Pugh, a physiologist from Liverpool John Moores University and a member of the support team at the 24-hour European Championships in Verona, said: "The runner's body goes through a physical strain. very large in two days of running and the body's ability to use stored fat is reduced.The body replenishing certain nutrients during the entire event will be key to the forward movement needed for a such a record."
