NordicTrack Treadmill Makes History With Ultra-Marathoner Zach Bitter’s New 100-Mile World Record
LOGAN, Utah: NordicTrack powered by iFit, the leader in at-home connected fitness equipment, contributed to running history with elite runner Zach Bitter, who set a new world record for 100 miles on a treadmill, with a time of 12:09:15. Bitter’s average pace was roughly 7:12 per mile, and he ran sub 7-minute miles for the last 10 miles, crushing the previous World Record of 12:32:26.
Bitter ran from his Phoenix home on the award-winning NordicTrack X22i Incline Trainer, a premier treadmill built and tested to perform at extreme use. The 12-hour event was live streamed on YouTube, with a who’s who of the ultrarunning world and other elite athletes serving as hosts and guests. Viewers could interact with the hosts and guests through social media, using #treadmill100WR, and directly through the live stream chat.
“Running on the NordicTrack treadmill was a comfortable experience, even for a 100-mile run,” said Bitter. “I was able to fully focus on pushing myself, without the added mental strain of tracking splits and treadmill cushioning was an enormous asset in accomplishing this goal.”
Bitter is already known as the fastest 100-miler on track (11:19:13) and trail (12:08:36).
“The quarantine situation is like an ultra—the first 50 miles is physical, the second is mental,” Bitter said, who created this event for himself after all his races were cancelled. “This challenge is representative of what the entire world is living through, and I hope my event is a reminder for everyone to stay mentally strong, so you can go the distance.”
The NordicTrack X22i treadmill that Bitter used is powered by iFit connected, interactive fitness technology. iFit streaming workouts include Live Workouts, Global Workouts and Studio Workouts. All styles of workout include a truly interactive experience, where the speed, incline and decline is automatically adjusted to reflect the trainers cues or the natural topography of the Global Workout trail. For example, if a person is running up Mount Kilimanjaro, a workout series the iFit crew shot on location, they’ll feel their treadmill automatically incline or decline based on the actual grade of the trail.
