Preceded in 2001 by the IAU World 24 Hours Track Championships, as a track running event, this competition became the IAU World 24 Hours Challenge in 2003.[2] The road running event was later upgraded to World Championships status after 2006. It is one of the IAU's four main world championship events (alongside the 100 km World Championships, 50 km World Championships, and Trail World Championships) and is the only one with a limited time format, rather than a distance-based one.[3]
The competition has often incorporated the IAU 24 Hour European Championships – a continental event which pre-dates the global competition, having first been held in 1992.[2] The annual schedule has twice been broken: first in 2011, with Brugg, Switzerland failing to proceed as host,[4] and again in 2014, with the agreed host (Pilzen, Czech Republic) being unable to hold the eleventh edition of the competition.[5] The event has mainly been held in Europe: in 2006, Taipei became the first Asian city to hold the races and Drummondville, Quebec followed as the first North American host in 2007.[4]
New Championship records were set at the 2019 Championship (awaiting ratification), including 278.972 kilometres by Aleskandr Sorokin from Lithuania and 270.119 kilometres by Camille Herron.[6] from the United States.
^IAU 24H WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. International Association of Ultrarunners. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^ a b c d e f gIAU World 24 Hours Challenge. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^IAU Championships. International Association of Ultrarunners. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^ a b c d e fMichiels, Paul & Milroy, Andy (2013-05-07). IAU 24 Hour Championships. Association of Road Running Statisticians. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^2014 World 24-Hour Run Championships. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^"2019 IAU 24 H World Championship – Official Results". International Association of Ultrarunners. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
^2006 IAU 24 Hour World Challenge. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Mountain/Ultra/Trail 2007 Annual Report. USATF (2007-10-08). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^RECAP: IAU RACES 2008 . International Association of Ultrarunners. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Olsson and Fontaine take IAU 24hr World Challenge titles in Bergamo. IAAF (2009-05-05). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Inoue and Fontaine take 24 Hour IAU World Championship titles. IAAF (2010-05-19). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^International Ultrarunners Without a World Championship Race For The Second Time This Year. Ultra Running Magazine (2014-07-24). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Katowice to host IAU 24 Hour World champs this weekend. IAAF (2012-09-05). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Morton and Dimitriadu take IAU World 24 Hour titles. IAAF (2012-09-11). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^IAU - Olsen and Kudo take 24 Hour IAU World Championship titles. IAAF (2013-05-28). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^International Ultrarunners Without a World Championship Race For The Second Time This Year. Ultra Running Magazine (2014-07-24). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^2015 IAU World 24 Hour Championships Selection Procedures. USATF. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
^Pięć medali Polaków na MŚ i ME w biegu 24-godzinnym (in Polish). Maratony Polskie (2015-04-15). Retrieved on 2015-04-16.
^"Belfast to host 24 Hour World Championships in 2017". Belfast City Council. Retrieved 8 March 2017. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
^"2019 IAU 24H World Championships was granted to Albi, France". iau-ultramarathon.org. Retrieved 17 May 2019. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Yiannis Kouros (GRE)
Lubomír Hrmo (SVK)
Alain Prual (FRA)
Paul Beckers (BEL)
Ryōichi Sekiya (JPN)
Anatoliy Kruglikov (RUS)
Ewald Eder (AUT)
Jens Lukas (GER)
Henrik Olsson (SWE)
Scott Jurek (USA)
Ivan Cudin (ITA)
Paweł Szynal (POL)
Robbie Britton (GBR)
Aleksandr Sorokin (LTU)
Tamás Bódis (HUN)
Australia
Michaela Dimitriadu (CZE)