SECOND GOMU 6-DAY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, BALATONFÜRED, HUNGARY, 

by Trishul Cherns

September 5 -11, 2024

The 2024 Mount to Coast GOMU-EMU 6-day World Championship, which held an IAU silver label, featured 111 athletes from 25 nations.  Competitors ran an 898.20-kilometer asphalt loop through the resort park off of the grand Lake Balaton in Balatonfüred, Hungary.  Bungalows for the athletes were conveniently located along the course. The race offered a diverse array of delicious food to satisfy all tastes. Our hosts at the EMU, Race Director Zsofia Lukács and EMU President Peter Szabo, along with their enthusiastic volunteers, treated the athletes to a world-class racing experience. The Hungarian Athletics Association’s (MASZ) Tamás Molnár and General Secretary Hilary Walker of the International Association of Ultrarunning (IAU) served as the onsite representatives.  MASZ-appointed chief referee Zoltán Kiss overlooked the competition to ensure good sportsmanship and fair play by all competitors. We appreciate the contributions of all dignitaries and officials. This race featured sixteen world, age group, and national records and served as the Hungarian 6-day National Championship.

Matthieu Bonne, a 30-year-old athlete from Belgium, broke a nineteen-year-old world record previously held by the legendary Greek athlete Yiannis Kouros. Yiannis' record of 1036.800 kilometers was set in Colac, Australia in 2005. Matthieu surpassed this mark by completing 1045.519 kilometers. 

Matthieu ran with great purpose, displaying laser-sharp focus and unshakeable determination. He worked closely with his team, consisting of his coach and family, and adhered to his demanding schedule, getting only 2.5 to 3 hours of sleep per night for the first four nights. On his final two days, he reduced his sleep, getting only 30 minutes on the fifth day and taking short 10-15 minute breaks on the final day. In the first four days, the athletes experienced extremely hot afternoon hours with temperatures rising upwards of 32C/90F, but this did not deter Matthieu from his pursuit. The weather broke on day five with 12 hours of rain welcomed by all the sun-baked runners. Day six had picture-perfect skies.

Bonne’s 6-day splits: 

Day One - 238.023 k/ 147.900 mi Daily total: (238.023 k/ 147.900 mi)

Day Two - 173.352 k/ 107.715 mi (411.651 k/ 255.788 mi)

(New Belgian 48-hr record)

Day Three - 158.982 k/ 98.786 mi (570.395 k/ 354.427 mi)

(New Belgian 72-hr record)

Day Four - 155.388 k/ 96.554 mi (450.957 k/ 725.745 mi)

Day Five - 152.694 k/ 94.879 mi (878.439 k/ 545.836 mi)

Day Six - 167.151 k/ 103.862 mi (1045.519 k/ 649.655 mi)

(New World, age group (30-34) and Belgian 6-day record)

Matthieu’s main competition and second-place finisher, Bartosz Fudali, 37, from Poland, had an excellent first three days, gaining a Polish 72-hr record.

Day One - 212.873 k/ 132.273 mi Daily total: (212.873 k/ 132.273 mi)

Day Two - 166.167 k/ 103.251 mi (379.040 k/ 235.524 mi)

Day Three - 149.999 k/ 93.205 mi (529.522 k/ 329.029 mi)

In the first GOMU 6-day World Championship in 2023 at Policoro, Italy, Paweł Zuk set the Polish record with a total of 805.596 k/ 501 mi. Inspired by his countryman’s performance, Bartosz continued his quest to break the Polish national 6-day record with a total of 842.096 k/ 523.254 mi in spite of his struggles with shin splints on days five and six.

The first woman overall, Zsuzsanna Maráz from Hungary, set a new national record of 804.946 k/ 500.178 mi, breaking her previous national record  (759.614 k/ 472.002 mi) by a substantial margin of 45.332 k/ 28.167. In the process of setting this record, she set a new women’s world 50-54 age group record.  Zsuzsa’s performance places her as the sixth woman ever to break 800 k/ 500 miles on the All-Time list for 6-days.

Day One - 185.927 k/ 115.529 mi Daily total: (185.927 k/ 115.529 mi)

Day Two - 155.389 k/ 96.554 mi (341.316 k/ 212.084 mi)

Day Three - 129.34 k/ 80.368 mi (470.656 k/ 292.452mi)

Day Four - 129.257 k/ 75.345 mi  (591.913 k/ 367.797 mi)

Day Five - 108.683 k/ 67.532 mi   (700.596 k/ 435.330 mi)

Day Six - 104.35 k/ 64.840 mi       (804.946 k/ 500.170 mi)

Anatolii Kruglikov, from Russia, set a new world record for the 65-69 age group. His total is 740.166 k/ 459.917 mi, breaking the previous record of 731.704 k/ 454.659 mi.  Four men broke 650k in the men’s 65-69 age group, which is outstanding. The design of the GOMU World Championships caters to elite age group athletes and open divisions alike. For this reason, GOMU prefers self-selection instead of federation selection, ensuring inclusivity for everyone.

Sandra Brown, hailing from Great Britain, set three notable women’s 75-79 age group world records across different disciplines during the MTC GOMU-EMU 6-day event: 48-hr, 72-hr, and 6-day.  Sandra achieved a total of 247.005 k/ 153.48 miles in 48-hrs, 323.352 k/ 200.921 miles in 72-hrs, and 564.999 k/ 351.074 miles in 6-days. Each of these world records exceeds the impressive performances of the renowned German athlete Edda Bauer.

Pál Bózo, from Hungary, broke one men’s 85-89 age group world record and established two additional records. His 48-hr age group world record surpassed the previous mark by 6.769 k, for a total of 189.52 k/ 117.762 mi. Pál’s newly minted 72-hr world record marks the first-ever recorded world record in this age group category with a total of 249.699 k/ 155.155 mi.  Additionally, his 6-day world record also establishes him as the first-ever athlete to place in the 85-89 age group with a total of 455.916 k/ 283.293 mi.  His performance proves that one can be an athlete at any age; age is just a number.

Other national records include Marianne Mäkinen from Finland, with a women’s national record of 713.178 k/ 443.148 mi, Rex Brillantes from the Philippines, with a men’s national record of 557.146 k/ 346.194 mi. and Gerben Oevermans from the Netherlands

with a men's national record of 738.517 k/ 458.893 mi. 

Women’s Podium

Gold: Zsuzsanna Maráz -Hungary         804.946 k/ 500.170 mi

Silver: Viktoria Brown -Hungary 718.719 k/ 446.591 mi

Bronze: Marianne Mäkinen -Finland        713.178 k/ 443.148 mi

Men’s Podium

Gold: Matthieu Bonne -Belgium 1045.519 k/ 649.655 mi

Silver: Bartosz Fudali -Poland         842.096 k/ 523.254 mi

Bronze:  Szabolcs Beda -Hungary         818.260 k/ 508.443 mi

National Team Championship

1.  Belgium: Matthieu Bonne, Ludo Deportere 1696.799 k/ 1054.342 mi

2.  Hungary: Szabolcs Beda, Gyula Sárosi 1620.692 k/ 1007.051mi

3.  Poland: Bartosz Fudali, Michal Koziarski 1598.720 k/ 993.398 mi

Women’s Team

1. Hungary: Zsuzsanna Maráz, Viktoria Brown 1523.665 k/ 946.761 mi

2. Finland: Marianne Mäkinen, Paula Wright 1346.630 k/ 836.757 mi

3. Germany: Andrea Mehner, Anke Kütbach 1276.004 k/ 792.872 mi

The Global Organization of Multi-Day Marathoners (GOMU) looks forward to 2025 when our third 6-day World Championship is hosted by Gérard Segui’s Les 6 jours de France.

Photos Below:

Top left: Viktoria Brown (l) and Zsuzsanna Maráz (r) are the women's world team champions.

Bottom left: Marianne Mäkinen, from Finland (seated), is the women’s new Finnish national record holder with 713.178 k/ 443.148 mi.

Right: Totally exhausted, gold medal winner Matthieu Bonne and silver medalist Bartosz Fudali rest on their laurels.

THIRD GOMU 48H WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, BALATONFÜRED, HUN  by Trishul Cherns

May 31- June 2, 2024

The third edition of the GOMU 48-hour World Championship was the greatest 48-hour event in history. The high level of competition propelled all the athletes on the course to achieve great heights. The statistics speak for themselves.

Never before have so many runners run over 400 km for a two-day race. In total, there were eight: five men and three women. Additionally, six men and two women ran between 350 km and 400 km, while sixteen men and six women ran between 300 km and 350 km. 

Out of the 116 starters, 38 athletes ran over 300 kilometers, which is one-third of the field, marking an achievement never before seen in the sport’s history. The vast field consisted of 82 men and 32 women from 23 countries, including 40 athletes from Hungary and 76 international runners. The race took place near the shores of Lake Balaton in Balatonfüred, Hungary, on a certified measured 1048-meter road loop course.

Stine Rex reached the best global mark for women for 48 hours ever recorded. Close on her heels, approximately half a kilometer behind Rex, was the relentless Irina Masanova, finishing in a close second, followed by third-place woman Viktoria Brown. In the last 16 months, six women have run over 400 km, and these three incredible women have done so at the GOMU World Championship race. 

In the men’s competition, Bartosz Fudali achieved the fastest road performance in history with a distance of 447.293 km, earning him the top spot on the podium. Following closely behind was second-place finisher Nicolás de las Heras Monforte, who ran 441.343 km, and Szabolcs Beda, who covered a distance of 433.869 km.

If you want to achieve greatness in a 48-hour performance, establishing a strong first day sets the momentum for the second day. Nine athletes displayed their strength and determination on the critical second day.

Day One Day Two

M - Bartosz Fudali - 262.056 km 185.237 km Poland

M - Nicolas de las Heras Monforte -  243.192 km 198,151 km Spain

W - Stine Rex - 227.472 km 208.042 km Denmark

W - Irina Masanova - 229.568 km 205.344 km Russia

M - Szabolcs Beda - 236.904 km 196.965 km Hungary

M - Soren Møller - 228.520 km 185.695 km Denmark

W - Viktoria Brown - 233.760 km 171.265 km Hungary

M -  Laszlo Nemes - 234.808 km 166.741 km Hungary

M - Russian Seitkalijev - 226.424 km 167.975 km Lithuania

Eleven national records were either set or broken in this race, as well as all-time best performances in the age groups.

National Records 

Women -  48-hour Danish National Record (overall): Stine Rex, DEN - 435.564 km

          48-hour Russian National Record (overall): Irina Masanova, RUS - 434.912 km

          48-hour Hungarian National Record: Viktoria Brown, HUN - 405.025 km

Men -          48-hour Polish National Record: Bartosz Fudali, POL - 447.293 km

              48-hour Spanish National Record: Nicolas de las Heras Monforte, ESP - 441.343 km

              48-hour Hungarian National Record: Szabolcs Beda, HUN - 433.869 km

             48-hour Danish National Record: Soren Møller, DEN - 414.215 km

              48-hour Lithuanian National Record: Rusian Seitkalijev, LUT - 394.399 km

              48-hour Azerbaijanian National Record: Elmir Askerov, AZE - 327.218 km

              48-hour Croatian National Record: Luka Kumic, CRO - 305.360 km

              48-hour Cyprian National Record: Theodoros Sofokleous, CYP - 303.029 km

All-time world best performances

Women -  48-hour All-time world best: Stine Rex, DEN, - 435.564 km

    35-39 Age Group 48-hour All-time world best: Irina Masanova, RUS - 434.912 km

  40-44 Age Group 48-hour All-time world best: Stine Rex, DEN, - 435.564 km

Men -        55-59 Age Group All-time world best: Nicolas de las Heras Monforte, ESP - 441.343 km

National Team Championship

Men’s Team

1. Hungary: Beda, Szabolcs & Nemes, Laszlo 519.104 miles / 835.418 km

2. Poland: Fudali, Bartosz & Koziarski, Michal 500.129 miles / 804.880 km

3. Denmark: Moller, Soren & Torjussen, Peter Lund 471.680 miles / 759.096 km

Women’s Team

1. Hungary: Brown Viktoria & Maraz, Zsuzsanna 472.085 miles / 759.748 km

2. Denmark: Rex, Stine & Møller Jensen, Julie Kristine  436.129 miles / 701.882 km

3. Germany: Durry, Simone & Heinlein, Marika 400.485 miles / 644.519 km

We extend our gratitude to the tireless Máté Baranyai, the dedicated race director and host of the GOMU World Championship, and his team of volunteers for organizing an exceptional and world-class event.

Special thanks to the esteemed Hungarian women’s legend, Edit Bérces, for gracing us with her presence to present the GOMU awards to the appreciative athletes. Edit made history as the first woman to surpass the 250 km mark in a 24-hour period.

Next year’s GOMU 48-hr World Championship will take place in Pabianice, Poland.  See you there!

SECOND GOMU 48H WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GLOUCESTER, UK  by Trishul Cherns

August 11-13, 2023

The second edition of the GOMU 48-hour World Championship did not disappoint. The race was held at the historic Blackbridge Athletics Track, Gloucester, UK. This 400-meter track venue has been the site of International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) world records, along with many national best performances and age group records. Legendary British ultrarunner Dave Dowdle broke 3 world records at the Blackbridge track in 1983.  GOMU was honored to be hosted for its 48-hour World Championship 40 years later.

This IAU silver label event pulled together athletes, 23 women, and 36 men, for a total of 59 athletes representing 17 countries. Athletes came from as far away as South Africa and Australia for the championship.

The weather conditions on the first day were windy and extremely warm and a few athletes suffered from sunburns. The second day saw short bursts of heavy showers throughout the day and into the night hours but it did not dampen the determination of the runners. Despite these varied conditions, there were 9 athletes–4 women and 5 men– who ran over 300 K.  They represented Hungary, Romania, Finland, Germany, Poland, the UK, & Switzerland. 

In the women’s competition, Romanian Mara Guler led for the first 12 hours, then Hungarian Viktoria Brown took over first place and never relinquished her lead.

Both women ran over 200 km on day one; Viktoria Brown’s 24-hour split of 215.200 km and Mara Guler’s split of 205.600 km. 

In the men’s competition Dan Lawson of Great Britain ran hard for the first 23 hours in the lead position then Hungarian Szabolcs Beda overtook him for the lead holding it for the remainder of the race.

Five men went over 200 km for the first 24 hours: Hungarian Szabolcs Beda amassed 231.600 km, British runner Dan Lawson had 229.200 km Polish athlete Lukasz Sagan with 222.400 km, Swiss runner Dominik Erne with 212.00 km and Finn Jari Soikkeli with 202.800.

Looking at the overall statistics, we had more nations represented in this year’s World Championship than the first edition of the GOMU 48-hour World Championship held in Hainsport,  New Jersey, USA, where only five nations were represented in this year’s 17 nations. 

Three women were able to attain national records for their countries: Romania, Finland & South Africa.  Mara Guler set a new Romanian women's national record for 48 hours with 326.314 km taking the silver position, Marianne Mäkeninen set a new women’s Finnish national record with 320.877 km capturing the bronze position, and Marsha Muller set a new women’s South African 48 hour record with 272.768 km.

Many athletes were able to place in their age group categories including American Jimmie Barnes who clinched two age-group world records in the 85-89-year-old category breaking the 50-mile mark with a time of 14:35:00 (old record,16:51:10) and established a new 100 mile age group record of 37:4611. He was expertly crewed by his family; his daughter surprised and delighted him by showing up unannounced in Gloucester to assist him as crew.

It was exciting to watch both the men's & women’s national team competitions unfold.  On the women’s side, Hungary nosed out Finland for the gold by 3.2 kilometers fighting to the end to determine which country was to ultimately secure the gold medal position. Finland won the silver and the German women’s team took the bronze. 

In the men’s team competition, the Hungarian team again proved victorious narrowly defeating the UK team by 5.6 km for the gold.  The UK team secured the silver and the Swiss team the bronze.

We were lucky to have some of the premier British legends in the sport of multi-day running in attendance.  Hilary Walker, former world record holder for 48 hours and General Secretary of the IAU, served in the official position as chief referee. Former 24-hour, 48 hr, and 6-day world record holder, and in my opinion, the GOAT of women’s ultrarunning, ultra legend Eleanor Robinson handed out the GOMU 48-hr awards to the top 3 individual winners in the women's and men’s categories as well as the awards to the top national teams.

To round out this murderers’ row of dignitaries of our sport, Sandra Brown, who holds multiple women’s world walking records was competing in the GOMU World Championship while her husband, Richard Brown who is the current men’s 48-hour UK national champion and multiple national record holder served as her crew.  Last, but not least, was Andy Milroy.  I have known Andy for years as one of the original members of the IAU and as the premier statistician and historian of our sport. Our paths had never crossed in person but as a former statistician for UltraRunning Magazine for 25 years, we were in regular contact with each other over the years, first exchanging letters, later emails and phone calls. To meet him in person after all these years was the highlight of my trip.

This championship could not have happened without the stewardship of the fine Severn Valley Events’ Paul Corderoy and his entire team of volunteers, massage therapists, kitchen staff, medical staff, and timers. Thank you for hosting GOMU and making the event World Class. 

The Global Organization of Multi-Day Marathoners (GOMU) looks forward to 2024 when our 48-hour World Championship will take place in Balatonfűred, Hungary hosted by Runion.

See you in Hungary!

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, overall 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 180 km/112 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 ran 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 is 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 despite 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 on the first day with 199K/123 miles. Mongolian multi-day star Budjargal Byambaa followed 10 km 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, establishing a Mongolian national record of 333 K/208 miles. 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's 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, 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-day 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