South African runner Sibusiso Kubheka became the first person to complete a 100km run in under six hours, in a unique running event which saw five of adidas’ top ultrarunners chase the audacious goal at the iconic Nardò Ring in Southern Italy on Tuesday morning. But it won’t count.

I’m so proud of my run today…to run 100km in under 6 hours was not easy…

Kubheka broke the barrier in 5:59:20, bettering the official world record of Lithuanian Aleksandr Sorokin (6:05:35) by 6 minutes and 15 seconds.

The time, however, cannot be ratified as an official world record. All the athletes were wearing the Evo Prime X, a shoe that does not comply with World Athletics regulations due to its midsole stack height and construction. The shoes have a heel stack height of about 50mm (10mm higher than the legal limit). The use of intermittent pacers, the uncertified course, and the high stack height of the unratified prototype shoes will exclude Kubheka’s time from being eligible for world record consideration.

The Adizero Evo Prime X shoes feature the brand’s pinnacle thermoplastic elastomer (TPEE) midsole foam, Lightstrike Pro Evo, and features Ultracharge technology, in which air bubbles are pumped into the empty gaps of the shoes’ midsole foam. Adidas has said more pressure means more energy return.

The Nardò Ring (Fiat’s Nardò test track) was built in 1975 and is a high-speed test track located north-west of the town of Nardò, Italy.

However, Kubheka was delighted that he managed to break the previously ‘impossible’ barrier: “I’m so proud of my run today. Becoming the first person to run 100km in under 6 hours was not easy, but thanks to the adidas partnership, their belief and bespoke technologies, we made it happen.”

Chasing 100 is the adidas campaign to explore what is possible when the fastest athletes are combined with the latest speed-focused innovations. All the competing athletes were wearing precision-engineered adidas footwear and state-of-the-art apparel.

Built for, and together with, each of the five athletes taking part – official 100km world record holder Aleksandr Sorokin (Lithuania), Jo Fukuda (Japan), Charlie Lawrence (USA), Ketema Negasa (Ethiopia), and Sibusiso Kubheka (South Africa) – adidas developed bespoke head-to-toe footwear and apparel with the latest in speed and cooling innovation.

Entering the event, Kubheka, 27, owned the fourth-fastest time (2:42:56) for 50km and has run 1:01:36 for the half-marathon; Sorokin, 43, ran the world record in May 2023; Lawrence, 30, has the world record for 50 miles (4:48:21); Negasa, 38, is the former 50km world record holder (2:42:07), and Fukuda, 34, is a 2:09:52 marathoner.

The group began running at 12:11am local time on Tuesday and was guided around a track by a black Mercedes G-class electric vehicle and lighting from a drone that hovered over the runners as they ran.

The group came through the 50km halfway split together in 2:58:57. Kubheka opened up a sizable lead before the start of the final lap and was still ahead of pace to break the 6-hour mark. He ran 20 seconds faster over the final 12.5km loop than the previous lap and widened his margin over the field with a strong sprint to the finish.

American athlete Lawrence ran his personal best (6:03:47), while Sorokin beat his current fastest time.

The results were:

1. Sibusiso Kubheka, 5:59:20
2. Charlie Lawrence, 6:03:47
3. Aleksandr Sorokin, 6:04:10

READ MORE ON: 100km 6-hour barrier chasing 100 ultra