At 40 Years Old, Camille Herron Ran the 100-Mile World Record (2023)

On February 18, at the USATF 100 Mile Championships in Henderson, Nevada, Camille Herron ran a world record of 12:41:11 (7:36 mile pace). She bettered her previous world record from five years ago by nearly 90 seconds.

Herron averaged 7:36 mile pace over the course of the race. For 100 miles.

During the course of the race, she also bettered her own 12-hour record by running 152 kilometers (94.44 miles). Her previous record for 12 hours was 149 kilometers (92.58 miles). And just for good measure, she won the race outright, passing the lead man with less than 20 miles to go.

Herron turned 40 last December, and the 100-miler was her first masters race.

“Seeing Keira D’Amato, Sara Hall, and me,” Herron told Runner’s World, “I think we’re kind of changing that mindset. You don’t have to hit 35 or 40 and just give up on your body or give up on performance.”

There’s a lot that goes into world records, especially when the race is 100 miles. So Runner’s World spoke to Herron to break down her record from top to bottom, including her build-up, nutrition, shoes, and more.

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The training

Herron’s build-up wasn’t a typical one for her. The USATF 100 Mile Championships was her third 100-miler since October, so she was mainly focused on recovery between those hard efforts.

After her most recent race in December, she took nine days off and started to rebuild her aerobic fitness, running 120 to 130 miles per week, mainly easy running.

“The past couple weeks I’ve been adding back in a little bit of speed work, but not too much, because I’m actually trying to peak in June for Western States,” Herron said. “So I’ve kept my training pretty low key for this race. I went into it knowing that I was really fit, but at the same time, I’m not in peak shape yet.”

It wasn’t until her most recent workout that she thought the record was attainable. She went out for a steady long run at 75 percent of her max heart rate, goal race pace.

Lifestyle changes as she gets older

When Herron hit her mid-30s, she fully expected her performances to be on a downward slope. Instead, she’s only run faster. She’s seen a big transformation in the past year, thanks to some lifestyle changes.

While doctors aren’t 100 percent sure yet, it’s likely Herron suffers from hemochromatosis, a genetic condition where the body over-absorbs iron. She saw it as a major turning point, and began to take her diet seriously, working with a dietitian to get her iron down. Also, she cut out alcohol, favoring non-alcoholic beer instead.

About a year ago, Herron purchased a squat rack, which she believes has completely changed her running: “I feel like it’s really improved my hip mobility and overall body strength,” she said.

Finally, she’s been focusing on the quality of her sleep. A normal day sees Herron sleep seven to eight hours at night with a two-hour nap in the afternoon.

The goal

Going into the race, Herron knew it wasn’t going to be the easiest course for records. Runners had to loop the 1.18-mile course 85 times, covering 3,058 feet of elevation gain. Heat would be a factor, too, as the entire race was out in the open of the desert sun.

“I had to go into it with a mindset of not really trying to chase my world records, being more open minded about it,” Herron said. “I thought that maybe breaking 13 hours was a good goal to have for this race. And then, if I was on pace to possibly break my world records, I was gonna go for it.”

The nutrition

It’s daunting to know you’ll be out running for 12 hours straight. Herron has a strategy to break the race into portions based around her nutrition. Her watch has a nutrition timer on it that beeps every 30 minutes to remind her to take a gel.

“It's like trying to eat the elephant one bite at a time,” she said.

In addition to the gels, Herron wears a belt with two small flasks—one filled with water, and the other with an electrolyte sports drink. Her goal is to consume 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, between the gels, which she takes with water, then sips of the sports drink.

Herron incorporates different drinks as the miles pile up. She favors the Maurten 320 drink mix to give herself an extra boost: “It basically serves as rocket fuel later in the race,” she said.

The shoes

Many ultrarunners race in carbon-plated shoes, which are designed to boost performance. Herron knows the benefits of carbon-plated shoes, and has worn them herself for previous record attempts. But to her, they’re too stiff for ultra distances.

“I’m running at a pace where I’m more on my heels and I’m not like propelling at a really fast pace, so for that I need to be in a softer, more flexible shoe,” she said. “Maybe the carbon-plated shoes are something I would wear for short distances, but I find that when I go longer, it’s all about comfort.”

Herron is sponsored by Hoka, and decided to go with the company’s lightweight neutral shoe, the Rincon 3.

The race

Before the race, Herron understood she had the potential to win the USATF title outright. She’s used to beating men at this point in her career, but this particular field included a lot of runners who had qualified and placed in the top 10 at Western States.

“Everybody knows me as somebody who goes out with the men and competes with the men,” she said. “I’ve actually been holding back and letting the men go early in the race, with the mindset that I’m going to catch them later in the race, and I’m going to sustain my pace better.”

So, Herron stuck to her plan of running at 75 percent of her max heart rate—exactly what she practiced during her last workout before the race. She felt good, coming through the 50 mile split in 6:08:24—which happened to eclipse the masters 50-mile record. She was under 12-hour and 100-mile record pace.

Letting the men go early paid off. Now, Herron had to be patient and work through the difficult terrain and hot weather. She dialed into nutrition, making sure to take in more electrolytes, salt, and calories to combat any bonking or unwanted bathroom breaks.

As she neared the 80-mile mark, Herron realized she was gaining on the leader, Arlen Glick.

“It was definitely a thrill and it motivated me,” she said. “He was four minutes ahead, and then two minutes ahead, and then 20 seconds.”

Herron passed him with under 20 miles to go: “I just kept going and going, taking a lap at a time, trying to power to the finish line.”

Herron’s effort was rewarded with a winning margin of nearly 30 seconds, two new world records, and an outright USATF national title.

The future

Herron has been running for 27 years now. She goes out twice a day almost every day. In college, when she seriously ramped up her mileage, she set a big goal for herself: 100,000 lifetime miles by the time she was 40. She expects to achieve that milestone sometime in the next six weeks—right on schedule. Hoka is planning a celebration for the achievement, as Herron will be the youngest woman to ever hit the number.

“I'm probably some sort of genetic freak, but I just like to run,” Herron said. “To me really, it's like breathing oxygen.”