Ultrarunning
German ultra runner Florian Neuschwander runs 50km in just 2h 57m 25s on a treadmill in Austria to set the new indoor endurance running record, beating the previous time by over 1m 30s.
German ultra runner Florian Neuschwander has smashed the world indoor endurance running record by 1m 38s, running 50km on a treadmill in a time of 2h 57m 25s at the Red Bull Athletes Performance Center in Thalgau, Austria.
The 38-year-old had to dig deep over the last 10km to achieve his goal and stepped off the treadmill after running at an awe-inspiring average pace of 3:33 min/km.
"I'm overwhelmed that I managed to break the 50km world treadmill record. Despite muscular problems in the end, I kept to my schedule and increased my pace constantly," said a delighted Neuschwander. "I'm extremely happy. I knew that the last few kilometres would be tough, but I went through with it relentlessly. I had to. My family was there and the people in the APC had worked so hard to make this work, so there was no turning back."
American Mario Mendoza had clocked a new world record of 2h 59m 3s on January 14 at Madras High School in Oregon, USA. Neuschwander believed he could lower that mark however and targeted the Red Bull Athletes Performance Center for his record attempt.
Ski jumping champion Andreas Wellinger provided extra motivation by running a few kilometres on a treadmill next to him. "Maximum respect for Flo's performance. He really worked hard for this world record. His willpower was impressive. Any athlete should take a leaf out of his book," he said.
Neuschwander, who will race the Wings for Life World Run on May 3, added, "It would be nice to finally win the Global Race Award at the Wings for Life World Run after my national titles in Darmstadt 2015 and in Munich 2016, as well as third place globally in 2020, but I'm first going to treat myself to a sauna."
