Aleksandr “Sania” Sorokin (born 30 September 1981) is a Lithuanian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

holding multiple

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and European records. As of September 2022, he held seven world records on the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

: 100,000m (track), 100 miles (road), 100 miles (track), six-hour run, 12-hour run (track), 12-hour run (road), 24-hour run (road). Sorokin won the

IAU 24 Hour World Championship The IAU 24 Hour World Championship is an annual international 24-hour run competition organised by the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU). Preceded in 2001 by the IAU World 24 Hours Track Championships, as a track running event, this ...

in 2019,

IAU European 24 Hour Championships The IAU European 24 Hour Championships is a biennial long-distance running competition in the 24-hour run for athletes from Europe. Organised by the International Association of Ultrarunners, it was first held in 1992 as an annual competition kno ...

in 2022 and the

Spartathlon Spartathlon is a ultramarathon race held annually in Greece since 1983, between Athens and Sparti, the modern town on the site of ancient Sparta. The Spartathlon is based on the run of Pheidippides, who ran from Athens to Sparta before the Ba ...

in 2017. He covered greatest distances in 24 hours [], in 12 hours [], and achieved the fastest time for 100 miles (10 hours, 51 minutes, 39 seconds), in some cases having broken his own earlier records in subsequent runs.

Career

Aleksandr Sorokin kayaked and canoed for Lithuania teams until a shoulder injury when aged 25, but only began running in 2013, at the age of 31, to lose weight (he was 100 kg). He quickly demonstrated exceptional qualities in ultra distance running and took part in his first 100 kilometres race in 2013. In 2015, he set the Lithuanian records for 100 km (6:50:34) and 24 hours (242.189 km) at the respective World Championships. In 2017, Sorokin won the prestigious

in Greece, becoming the 35th winner and the third-fastest athlete in this race. In 2019 at the

held in

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albig� ...

, France, he had his breakthrough performance, breaking the championship record with a distance of 278.972 kilometres. On 24 April 2021, he set both the 100-mile and the 12-hour world records during the Centurion Running Track 100 Mile in England (official record ratifiable splits are also taken there at the 50 km, 5 mile, 100 km, 6 hrs and 12 hrs en route). His 100-mile (160.934 kilometers) world record was a time of 11:14:56, and his 12-hour world record was a distance of 105.825 miles/170.309 kilometers. Sorokin kept overall pace for the 12 hours of running at a 6:48 minutes per mile (4:14 per kilometer). Later that year on 29 August, he broke

Yiannis Kouros Yiannis Kouros ( el, Γιάννης Κούρος, ; born 13 February 1956 in Tripoli, Kingdom of Greece) is a Greek ultramarathon runner based in Greece. He is sometimes given the epithets "Running god", "Pheidippides' Successor" or "Son of Ph ...

' 'unbreakable' 24-hour world record record of 303.3 km, set in 1997. He covered 309.4 km with an average pace of 4:39 per kilometer in

Pabianice Pabianice is a city in central Poland with 63,023 inhabitants (2021). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about southwest of Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area of that city. It is the ...

, Poland. At the Spartanion race in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel on 6 January 2022, the 40-year-old bested his own two records in one run and became the first runner to break the 11-hour barrier for 100 miles as he covered the distance (161 km) in 10 hours, 51 minutes and 39 seconds, and then continued on and broke second record – the furthest distance run in 12 hours, at 111.24 miles. On 23 April at the Centurion Running Track 100 Mile, he set a new world record for the 100 kilometres with a time of 6:05:41. On 18 September, Sorokin bettered his own 24-hour record by more than 10 kilometers at the

staged in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Italy. He achieved a distance of 319.614 kilometres which is only 1.5 miles short of 200 miles, and averaged a 4:30/km (7:15/mile) pace over 24 hours (he began with 3:55-3:58/km pace and managed to finish with a 5:05-5:10/km pace).

Personal bests

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorokin, Aleksandr 1981 births Living people Lithuanian male athletes Male ultramarathon runners World Athletics Championships winners World record holders in athletics (track and field)