Some blokes are just built different. Or in the immortal words of Kobe Bryant, different animals and the same beast. At the Spartanion 12-hour race event hosted in Israel, Lithuanian endurance athlete Aleksandr “Sania” Sorokin reminded the world why he’s a card-carrying member of this very species – shattering two of his own world records, as well as becoming the first human to crack 100 miles in under 11 hours.
If Sorokin’s name sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. Last year, he made headlines after breaking the 24-hour running world record established by renowned ultrarunner, Yiannis Kouros, at Poland’s UltraPark Weekend. Recording a total distance of 192.25 miles / 309.4 kilometres with a sustained pace of 12.89 km/h, the feat was – to put it very mildly – quite an impressive feat. But how he’d kick off 2022, armed with a pair of Nike Alphflys and sheer determination, would prove even more impressive.
As reported by Running Magazine:
"It wasn’t until after halfway that [Aleksandr "Sania" Sorokin] realised he was on pace to shatter his previous 100-mile record of 11:14.56. He broke his previous personal best by 23 minutes, running 10:51:39 - a whopping eight-second improvement per kilometre."
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Check out Sania Sorokin’s approximate stats for his complete 110.4 mile / 12-hour run at Spartanion below (compiled data courtesy of Ron Romano):
- 6 minutes 30.99 seconds per mile
- 4 minutes 2.95 seconds per kilometre
- 9.21 miles per hour
- 14.82 kilometres per hour
- 4.12 meters per second
- 246.97 metres per minute
- 14.82 kilometres per hour
In terms of popular running distances, here’s what Sorokin was clocking at his insane pace:
- 400 metres in 1:37
- 800 metres in 3:14
- 1 KM in 4:03 (1 mile in 6:31)
- 3 KM in 12:09 (3 miles in 19:33)
- 5 KM in 20:15 (5 miles in 32:35)
- 10 KM in 40:29 (10 miles in 1:05:10)
- ½ marathon in 1:25:26
- Marathon in 2:50:51
“I need to find a sponsorship for [2022] because soon I need to be back to work,” Aleksandr “Sania” Sorokin previously revealed; having competed without any commercial backing thus far.
According to Runner’s World, Sorokin also lost his job as a casino dealer back in January 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic. The silver lining, of course, was that it freed up the 39-year-old to “train like a pro.”
“I am in peak form, so I feel like I can still do better.”
