Alex Milne bettered Steve Way's national mark to win individual bronze and lead the men to team silver, as USA's Courtney Olsen and Charlie Lawrence swept the individual titles at the IAU 100km Championships, Adrian Stott reports.

Courtney Olsen and Charlie Lawrence made it a USA double at the IAU 100km Championships in Ames, A Coruña, Spain, on Sunday (Sept 20), winning both the men's and women's individual titles.

There were medals for Great Britain & Northern Ireland too, with Alex Milne taking a superb individual bronze and leading the men's team to silver.

Men's race

Lawrence was in the lead group from the start and reached halfway – after 10 of the 20 5km laps – in 3:00:34, comfortably clear of Aleksandr Sorokin, the world record-holder, who passed through in 3:04:06.

At 75km, after 15 laps, Lawrence led in 4:33:14, with USA's Brogan Austin (4:37:04) and Sorokin (4:37:11) close behind. Milne, who had been in a large group further back, was making progress and went through 75km in 4:41:47.

In the closing 25km, Milne – who always paces his races well to finish strongly – worked his way through to third.

Lawrence held on to take the title in 6:09:25, just outside his PB of 6:07:10 but the seventh-fastest 100km performance of all time, and inside the championship record of Japan's Haruki Okayama, who ran 6:12:10 in Berlin in 2022.

Sorokin took silver in 6:12:41.

Milne's bronze, in 6:17:50, was a British road record, bettering Steve Way's mark of 6:19:20 from Gravesend in 2014 and moving him to second on the UK all-time list behind Don Ritchie's 6:10:20 track performance from 1978.

"I couldn't have asked for more," said Milne. "Pleased and surprised with the result, given how I felt for a large part of the race. Nice to finally get Steve's record."

Hugh Tibbs (6:26:54) and Henry Hart (6:33:18) also ran personal bests, in seventh and 12th respectively, as Great Britain took team silver behind USA, with France completing the podium (TBC).

Women's race

At halfway, Miho Nakata of Japan led in 3:22:43, with Spain's Gemma Arenas-Alcázar second in 3:25:55. USA's Olsen, running her own race rather than matching Nakata's early pace, was back in 3:27:58.

By the end of lap 15 (75km), Nakata still led, in 5:13:47, with Arenas-Alcázar second in 5:15:20. Olsen was closing fast, in 5:16:32, while Britain's Sarah Webster was fourth in 5:19:07.

The picture changed dramatically over the next three laps. Olsen reeled in Arenas-Alcázar and then passed Nakata to lead with two laps remaining, going on to lead the Japanese runner by more than two minutes. Webster also surged past Arenas-Alcázar to move into third.

Olsen held on to win in 7:10:31, with Nakata finishing strongly for silver in 7:11:57, less than two minutes back. Behind them, drama unfolded as Webster appeared to hit trouble with cramp on the final lap and dropped out, promoting Arenas-Alcázar to individual bronze for the host nation.

Norimo Saki's championship record of 7:00:27, set in Winschoten in 2007, survives.

Results

Men
1 C Lawrence (USA) 6:09:25
2 A Sorokin (LTU) 6:12:41
3 ALEX MILNE 6:17:50
4 D Nozynski (POL) 6:23:47
5 J Pointeau (FRA) 6:24:34
6 S Galibert (FRA) 6:25:30
7 HUGH TIBBS 6:26:54
8 B Austin (USA) 6:27:50
9 O Meijer (SWE) 6:29:55
10 C Gazapo Bravo (ESP) 6:31:09

Other GB: 12 HENRY HART 6:33:18; 16 DAVE BARRETT 6:38:15; 25 JAMES TURNER 6:40:03; 41 TOM ALMOND 7:13:22

Women
1 C Olsen (USA) 7:10:31
2 M Nakata (JPN) 7:11:57
3 G Arenas-Alcázar (ESP) 7:17:50
4 N Honkala (FIN) 7:21:37
5 N Šuštić-Štanković (CRO) 7:21:57
6 E Unzu Ripoll (ESP) 7:22:13
7 N Šustic (CRO) 7:22:43
8 S Leroy (FRA) 7:24:07
9 M Leroy (FRA) 7:26:29
10 M Šimek Bilic (CRO) 7:27:46

Other GB: 14 KATIE YOUNG 7:38:45; 18 NICOLE FUNNELL 7:41:18; 39 JACQUI WILSON 8:30:54; SARAH WEBSTER DNF (final lap); Naomi Robinson also dropped out, after five hours.

Team results (fastest three times per team)
Men (TBC): 1 USA 19:17:18; 2 GBR 19:18:02; 3 FRA 19:22:52
Women (TBC): 1 CRO 22:12:26; 2 ESP 22:21:06; 3 FIN 22:46:15; 6 GBR 23:50:57

Full results: https://live.event-timing.com/454#