Six Days in the Dome has begun with a bang. Zach Bitter has shown records can fall on the 443-meter track in Milwaukee. Eleven hours - nineteen minutes - and eighteen seconds. In the time most frat boys sleep in on a weekend, Zach Bitter has run 100 miles faster than anyone - ever. How big is that? That's just over two, five and a half-hour 50-milers - back to back. Who knows how long this record will last, likely for a very, very long time. Unlike many obscure ultras, rabid runners chasing records have long gone back and forth over the coveted 100-mile distance. Zach has indeed run himself into another realm, one where the air is mighty thin.
Olivier Leblond put in 228 miles in 39 hours before retiring from the race. It is tantalizing to think what nine more hours could have produced for the Virginian in the 48-hour race.
But, the six-day has yet to start!! The namesake of the event and brainchild of ultrarunner, Joe Fejes, will start at noon on Sunday the 25th. Can anyone reach 600 miles? Will Stu Mittleman's old record fall further into the record books? The track has proven fast as runners constantly circle the ice. How many records will melt in the next week. Stream here.
