IAU Athlete Interviews & News IAU Athlete Interviews & News

Satu Lipiäinen of Finland talks to the IAU about her recent 12hr World Record.

You can follow Satu on Instagram @satulipiainen

Cillian Flemming will be representing Ireland in the World Mountain and Trail Championships 2023.



Irish Mountain Running Association

Outsider Magazine

The Kerry Way Ultra

Virginia is an ultra-distance runner on road and trail. Born in Argentina, she has lived in Italy since she was 20, and represents Italy in endurance events. Virginia has achieved 15 years of racing ultra marathons, with almost 8 000 km covered during nearly 80 races.

Some highlights from her international races that she completed:

IAU World Championship participations:


2007 IAU WC 24h Drummondville, 176km
2009 IAU WC 24h Bergamo, 183km (silver medal Team Italy)
2009 IAU WC Serre Chevalier, 68km
2010 IAU WC 24h Brive, 190km
2012 IAU WC 24h Katowice, 189km
2013 IAU WC 24h Steenberger 209.6km
2015 IAU WC Maxi Race du Lac d’Annecy 84km 5300+ (bronze medal Team Italy)
2016 IAU WC Trans Peneda-Geres 85km
2017 IAU WC 24h Belfast, 182km

Ultra-trail Races best results:


2006-2010-2014-2016 four times winner of Cro-magnon Trail 112km 6000+
2006 1st woman Porte di Pietra 71km 4200+
2007 5th woman UTMB 168km 8200+
2014 3rd woman Maxi Race du Lac d’Annecy 84km 5300+
2015 1st woman Ultra-Trail des Balcons d’Azur 80km 3700+
2016 1st woman Gran Trail Orobie 70km 4500+
2016 9th woman CCC 101km 6000+
2017 1st woman Maremontana Trail 63km 4000+
2017 1st woman Porte di Pietra 71km 4200+

Most important ultramarathon participation:


2014 12h San Pedro (Argentina), 114km
2015 24h Barcelona, 207km
2016 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 32:46
2017 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 31:39
2018 finisher of Spartathlon 246km 34:48

Nadeem Khan the IAU President in conversation with Jacek Bedowski - IAU Director of Communication on the night before the IAU 24hr European Championships 2022 in Verona Italy.  Reflecting on a discussion we had in Albi at the 24hr World Championships back in 2019 and talking about the future for the IAU.

For further information on the IAU event and news you can visit our website at www.iau-ultramarathon.org

Therese did her first Ultra marathon back in 2013 which was the Stolkholm 50K and since then she has competed at a variety of distances including time based races.  In 2014 she took part in the Bislett 24hr race in Norway and covered a distance of 203.549Km and the following year she represented Norway 24 hour European championships in Torino Italy.

Jump forward to 2021 and Therese took part in the Bislett 24 hour race once again but this time she covered a distance of 261.170Km and set a new European Record.

This distance is the third best distance covered for a Female in a 24hr race and puts her second on the list to Camille Herron who holds the current IAU World Record for 24hrs which stands at 270.116Km set in Albi France at the World Championships 2019.

Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden is an ophthalmologist and medical scientist with research interests in diabetic retinopathy, Alzheimer’s disease and retinal imaging biomarker discovery. He has research experience in retinal vascular biology and central nervous system regeneration.  In his spare time he competes in Ultra Running and has represented The Netherlands at European and World Championships.