The six men, five women, six crew, and team manager, along with an entourage of supporters, arrived in Albi, France in mid-October to take on the 15th edition of the IAU World Championship 24 Hour race. Del Salt and Viktoria Brown unfortunately toed the start line with head colds, yet both persevered for the entire 24 hours.
A cool morning gave way to summer-like temperatures by mid-afternoon, which took its toll on our athletes. Both Matt Tribe and Amélie Desmarais had to withdraw from the race for medical reasons. The crew kept busy trying to help cool the runners and find alternative fueling strategies to get some calories into them.
Sunset brought with it a sudden cooling airmass, with very high humidity. This led some athletes to struggle with thermoregulation. Overnight, crew, athletes, and our great supporters around the course continued to work together for the best results for Canada.
When the final pistol shot rang out at 10am Sunday, Canada had two new (to-be-ratified) age group records (Thomas Beyer M55 24 Hour 222.685km; Viktoria Brown W50 24 Hour 195.372km) and four personal bests (Lydia Ouellette, Thomas Beyer, Nathan Currie, Francois Deçelles). We had two men on the podium in the concurrent World Masters Athletics championships (Wayne Gaudet M60+ Bronze; Thomas Beyer M55 Silver).
In 2023, Canada fielded only one woman at the Championships, but this year we saw a team of five reach the start line, with the team scoring 16th of 29 women's teams (top 3 distances comprise the team score). In 2023, Canada had a team of just three men, but this year we had six starters. The men's team finished in 24th of 41 men's teams. The team event was more competitive than 2023, with more federations represented and an increasing depth of competitiveness. The Canadian men's total scoring kilometres was higher than in 2023.
In 2023, Canada had one male and one female athlete in the top half of the field. This year we had two males and two females in the top half of the field, which was the largest field ever assembled for the World 24 Hour. ACU seeks to continue developing our elite talent, with the goal of improving our team standings to be in the top half of the field of teams.
Detailed results from the championships can be found on the relevant WC 24 Hour page.
