Amateur runner sets new 24-hour distance record

Sarah Webster has set a new women's world record for running the greatest distance in 24 hours

A 46-year-old amateur runner from East Sussex has set a new women's world record after running 173m (278km) in 24 hours.

Sarah Webster, from Rottingdean, in East Sussex, won gold at the world championships in France on Saturday and was one of three female runners to break the previous 24-hour record of 168m (270km).

Ms Webster said: "Part of me wanted to stop as soon as I got the record but I knew if I stopped the Australian and the Japanese girls were behind me… and they could overtake me."

The race in France was only Webster's second 24-hour race. She ran and won her first event, the UK championships in Crawley, West Sussex, earlier this year, after covering (151m) 243km.

Speaking on her way home from the race, which began in the French town of Albi, she said: "The first four hours was probably hardest, mentally getting into it, thinking 'this hurts' and I've got another 20 hours to run, and this is not good.

"But then you get into your pace a bit more, get some food on board, and then the night goes quite quickly.

"The last four hours was really hard… but at that point I knew I was potentially on for records and I couldn't give up then."

Training alongside her job as a vet, Webster added: "I love being out when life's busy, when you're stressed, just get out on the hills, the road, and just run.

"The problems are still there when you get back but you just enjoy it, the miles just come, and I've just built them up persistently over the years."

She said she "half joked" about retiring if she got the record but said she was "definitely not retiring from running, but it's whether I'll do another 24 hour race".