Scott Jurek wins 246k Spartathlon; Hawker and Djouadi win gold at 100km Worlds

Two ultra news items I thought y'all might like:

Jurek wins 246k Spartathlon in sub-23 hour pace

Scott Jurek became the first US winner of the 246k Greek Spartathlon, clocking a 22:52:18, only the second person to have a sub-23 finish (Yiannis Kouros did 20:29 in 1990, and sub-23 three other times). Scott made the historic run from Athens to Sparta (considered to be the route run by the greek god of ultrarunning, Pheidippides) in hot conditions. Sekiya Ryoichi from Japan, finished 2nd in 24:14:11, followed by Ohtaki Masayuki in 25:19:12 , also from Japan.

(Scott Jurek en route to his Spartathlon victory; photo courtesy of Nikos Afostolakos)

Inagaki Sumie from Japan won the women's division in 28:37:20 (10th), with Takako Furuyama from Japan in 31:40:31 (23rd) second and Mary Larsson-Hanudel from the U.S.A. in third in 31:41:56 (24th).

Hawker and Djouadi take 100km gold in IAU World Cup in Seoul

In a high speed battle for the World 100k Championship, French runner Yannick Djouadi won gold with a 6:38:41. In what was mostly a tight race, Djouadi held his pace behind early front runners to pass them around 80km and seize victory by almost 5 minutes. The IAU has a great article about the race here. Great Britain's Elizabeth Hawker held the lead from start to finish to win the Women's division.

(Yannick Djouadi wins the 2006 IAU 100k World Championships; photo courtest of Sean Wallace-Jones)

Congrats also to Anne Lundblad, who set a new PR and Women's Master's record in her sixth place performance.