072 RUNNERSWORLD.COM/UK MAY 2019
What do you attribute your
ultrarunning success to?
‘A bit of nature, a lot of nurture. I was
born with my right femur and arm
anteverted [twisted inward]. I can’t
push off hard on my right leg, so I
can’t produce much power for a fast
5K. But I developed a super-efficient
shuffle that’s great for long distances
and protects me from injuries.
‘I’m tall and lean, like my father
and grandfather, who both played
basketball. They are both pillars of
toughness – big, strong men. They
lived in Ethiopia when Dad was a
boy, so I grew up hearing about the
Ethiopian runners. I got my endurance
and pain tolerance from my mother,‘I’VE DONE
20-MILERS
AT MIDNIGHT’
Ultrarunner Camille Herron on the
physical and mental strategies that
helped her break multiple records
‘I BELIEVE I CAN
COMPETE AT A HIGH
LEVEL IN ULTRAS
15 AND 20 YEARS
FROM NOW’
HER NAME MIGHT NOT APPEAR in lights as often as others, but
Camille Herron is one of the world’s best distance runners.
The 37-year-old holds numerous world and national records
(fastest 50 miles, 100 miles, 12 hours and 24 hours). In 2017,
she became only the second US woman, after Ann Trason, to win the
56-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa.
Herron set her 100-mile and 24-hour records on a track at the
Desert Solstice Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona, last December. She
covered 100 miles on the oval in 13 hours and 25 minutes (smashing
the previous record by 20 minutes) and covered 162.9 miles in 24
hours, beating the former record by over a mile. She has also qualified
for three US Olympic Marathon Trials, in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
When she’s not running, Herron, who has a master’s in exercise
and sports science, works part-time as a research assistant in bone
imaging at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and
also serves as secretary of the USA Track & Field’s Women’s Long
Distance Running Committee. Here, she shares how she climbed
to the top of the ultra world and outlines her ambitious goals.