Treadmill world record broken: Runner does 160km in 12 hours

Zach Bitter took quarantine life to insane levels, jacking his treadmill up to an impressive speed and holding it for 160km.

Next time you jump on your treadmill for a run, jack up to speed 13.5 (km/h) and imagine what it would feel like to be able to hold that pace for 12 hours.

That’s basically what US distance runner Zach Bitter pulled off this week as he made up for a break from competition by smashing the world record for 100 miles (160km) on a treadmill.

The 34-year-old from Arizona, who holds the WR for the fastest outdoor 100-mile too — setting a mark of 11:19:13 last year — was slightly slower inside his Phoenix home, stopping the clock at 12:09:15.

He was forced to keep alternating between two machines because treadmills automatically shut down when they’ve been left running for a couple of hours.

He fluctuated his speed at certain times, but kept it just above or below the pace of a 4min 20sec kilometre.

“There were a few spots in there where physically you feel fine, but mentally you just want to get off that machine so badly,” Bitter said after the race. “It’s a beautiful machine, but 12 hours of anything is a lot.”

The stats from Zach’s run: Eight litres of fluid consumed!

Bitter was well ahead of the previous record held by Canada’s Dave Proctor (12:32:26) at the halfway mark before tiring somewhat.

He took a short break to eat a bag of potato chips before charging to the finish line — which was a makeshift tape made of toilet paper held by his wife, Nicole.