FIRST GOMU 6-DAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, POLICORO, ITALY by Trishul Cherns

March 12-18, 2023

The inaugural GOMU 6-Day World Championship was huge as one world record and three national records were broken at the Italian Ultramarathon Festival (UMF) Winter Edition in Policoro, Italy. Viktoria Brown who holds both Canadian and Hungarian citizenship and competing for the Hungarian team in this championship broke an astounding two records; one world the other a Canadian national women’s record. Viktoria, the current women’s 3 day world record holder of 467.366 km/290.407 miles bettered her old mark by over 4 kilometers establishing a new world record of 471.631 km/293.057 miles.

She also had a blistering pace for the first two days pushing forward her former Canadian national record up from 353.877 km/219.888 miles to 364 km/226 miles.

Hungarian Gabor Rakonczay, over-all champion of the GOMU 6-Day World Championship, also broke his own Hungarian national record (844.108 km/ 524.504 mi) by 4 km with a smooth steady style and pace giving him the final tally of 848.518 km/ 527.244 miles.

Pawel Zuk, the third place finisher in the GOMU 6-Day World Championship, set a new national record for his home country of Poland running in a vibrant powerful style amassing 805.596 km/ 501 miles.

Rodrigo Freeman Lopez who placed 5th overall also set a new national record for Brazil with 764.848 km/ 475.254 miles.

Adrian Rewig from Germany had himself an outstanding last day with over 161 km/100 miles which cemented his 2nd place overall and moved him up to number 4 on the German men's All-Time list for 6-days. 

The GOMU 6-Day World Championship athletes roster was composed of an exceptional field of men and women from fifteen countries.  The top three men ran over 800 km/500 miles with an impressive eleven men running over 700 km. Seventeen athletes were able to reach 400 miles, twenty-one runners running well over 600 km. 

There were 43 finishers in the GOMU 6-Day World Championship out of the 46 starters; three athletes retired very early in the competition.   The course was a 1077.64 meter long loop near the Adriatic Sea.  The weather was pleasant during the day with a few rainy days and nights adding to the challenge.  The chilly nights experienced were seasonally expected. We especially want to thank our host in Italy, Pasquale Brandi for his excellent race directing and long hours at the helm. Special thanks to the World Record holder for 6-days Yiannis Kouros for firing the starting gun and presenting the GOMU awards at the race end.

The GOMU 6-Day World Championship National Team competition had a showing of four teams of women and seven teams of men.  Each team comprised of a minimum of two athletes to be entitled a team status. The top two individual athletes of a national team accruing the highest totals for the top three placing national teams received GOMU National Team medals. 

GOMU 6-Day World Championship National Team Competition

 Women:

1. Hungary- Viktoria Brown/Krisztina Drabik     1307.478 km

2. Romania- Mara Guler/Simona Gollent            1110.387 km

3. Italy- Luisa Zecchino/Marinella Satta                989.763 km

4. Germany- Marika Heinlein/Edda Bauer         962.838 km

GOMU 6-Day World Championship National Team Competition

Men:

1. Germany- Adrian Rewig/Michael Bohm            1597.191 km

2. Hungary- Gabor Rakonczay/Szilard Fodor 1537.956 km

3. Italy- Andrea Marcato/Daniele Alimonti          1424.871 km

4. France- Cedric Chaudet/Jean-louis Vidal         1227.780 km

5. Spain- Fernando Soriano/Ricardo Vidan           1152.390 km

6. Belgium- Ludo Depoortere/Pat Leysen             1139.466 km

7. Switzerland- Matteo Tenchio/FrediBuchler        920.835 km

FIRST GOMU 48H WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, HAINSPORT, NJ, USA by Trishul Cherns

September 3-5, 2022

The inaugural GOMU 48 Hour Championship was a giant success in spite of the intense summer heat. 

In the men’s portion of the Championship Greek National and soldier in the Greek Army Dimos Marifoglou came out strong the first day with 199K/123 miles. Mongolian multi-day star Budjargal Byambaa followed 10 K behind Dimos.

As the summer heat increased, topping at 90°F/32°C in the afternoon of the second day, Budjargal mirrored the intensity of the blazing sun pulling ahead of Dimos taking command to secure a victory and becoming GOMU’s first Overall 48 Hour World Champion. The podium was rounded out by American athlete Byron Lane. 

In the women’s competition 72 hour World Record holder Viktoria Brown from Canada led the first day with 195K/121 miles. Steady on the prowl, 10K behind Viktoria was US athlete and personal trainer Lisa Devona.  Lisa closed the gap in the last 12 hours but ultimately ran out of real estate.  Viktoria Brown, GOMU’s Vice President, became the 48 hour Women’s World Champion. Their focus, determination and grit was palpable. Congratulations to Anna Miglio of the USA for her Third Place showing.

GOMU’s first World Championship witnessed the exceptional performance of Jeff Hagen of the United States in the men's 75 to 79 age group. This pending age group World Record of 265.6858 K/166.5384 miles broke the former record of 259 K/161 miles.

For those who are interested, this race is an IAU Bronze Label event. It is a certified and measured loop of .9913080 of a mile. It meets all USATF/IAU/GOMU requirements and standards for certification. The laps were recorded by electronic chip timing. 

 I want to offer deep gratitude to the unflappable Race Directors Vanessa Kline and John Swanson in whose generous stewardship embraced us all.  I want to thank the never ending flow of tireless volunteers who created such positive energy. A special thanks to the kitchen staff who created an abundance of delicious food for all palates. 

The next pair of GOMU Championships will be in 2023. Come represent your country. 

GOMU 6-Day World Championship- March 2023

-6-days UMF–Italian Ultramarathon Festival – Winter Edition 2023

-March 12-18, 2023

-Policoro, Italy

Registration is open.

GOMU 48 Hour World Championship– August 2023

-August 11-13, 2023

-Gloucester, UK

Registration is open January, 2023