We think there’s no one in the world of long-distance running quite as talented and accomplished as ultrarunner Camille Herron. Now in her 40s, she’s still breaking records and showing us how to achieve the unthinkable in endurance sport.
Back in 1999, following the Oklahoma tornado, Herron’s family became homeless. Aged 17, she began to do long runs on Sundays to celebrate surviving the event. Her raw talent led to wins in both cross country and on the track and she represented the USA in the marathon in the 2011 Pan American Games. Injuries repeatedly scuppered her success, so she decided to change her distance discipline; it was to be a pivotal decision in terms of her international success.
In 2015, she dominated the US long-distance running scene, with wins at 50K, 50-mile road, 100K road, 100K trail and 100-mile road races. Herron went on to take the title for the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, one of the toughest double marathons on the planet, as well as scoring the world records at both 12- and 24-hours running. There was no stopping her; this athlete never seemed to tire or turn off. Herron went on to take the 50K, 100K and 24 hours World Championships titles in the same year, the only athlete to have achieved this triple.