Zach Bitter Breaks 100-Mile Run World Record in 11 Hours, 19 Minutes

American runner Zach Bitter beat the old record by nearly 10 minutes.

U.S distance runner Zach Bitter set a 100-mile run world record in 11 hours, 19 minutes and 13 seconds at the Six Days in the Dome event in Milwaukee on Saturday. He ran 363 laps around the 442-meter track at the Pettit National Ice Center.

He averaged a mile pace of 6:48, which is faster than running a sub-three hour marathon. He ran the first 50 miles in five hours, 40 minutes and 38 seconds before completing the next 50 two minutes faster in five hours, 38 minutes and 35 seconds.

The previous record was 11 hours, 28 minutes and three seconds by Oleg Kharitonov in 2002. The 40-year-old from Manitowoc, Wis. set the American record for 100 miles when he ran a 11:40:55 in 2013.

Bitter continued to run for another 40 minutes to improve upon his own 12-hour distance world record to 104.8 miles.

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Zach Bitter ran 11:19:13 to break the WR in the 100 mile, then ran 105.15 in the 12-hour and broke his own record!! @AltraRunning @iRunFar @zbitter pic.twitter.com/IfuUUZ7P9E

— TRACI FALBO (@FALBOTRACI) August 25, 2019

"It was a huge weight off my shoulders," Bitter told Runner's World. "It’s been a huge part of my training for six years, so when I got through it, it was like finally putting the last puzzle piece together."