Ashley Paulson runs 100 miles in 12:19:34, a women's world record, at the Jackpot
On a 1.19-mile loop in Henderson, Nevada, the 44-year-old beat Caitriona Jennings' mark by more than 17 minutes and won the USATF 100 mile title.
The Jackpot 100 Mile is run on a 1.19-mile USATF-certified loop around the pond at Cornerstone Park in Henderson, Nevada, a few miles from the Las Vegas Strip. The park was a gravel mine once. On Friday it was the USATF 100 Mile National Championships, and Ashley Paulson ran it in 12:19:34, a women's world record for 100 miles, pending ratification by the International Association of Ultrarunners.
The record she beat was Caitriona Jennings's 12:37:04 from Tunnel Hill last November. To get under it Paulson needed 7:34 a mile for 100 miles. She ran the first 20 at about 7:00, the next 25 mostly around 7:10, and had a cushion of roughly half an hour by halfway. The pace slowed from there, to about 7:30 through 80 miles and slower in the last stretch, but the cushion held. It was cool all day, calm at the 8 a.m. start, windier later. She also improved her own American masters record for ages 40 to 44 by an hour and 45 minutes.
Paulson, 44, from St. George, Utah, is best known for the Badwater 135, where she set the women's course record in 2022 and came back in 2023 to win the race outright. She won the Jackpot in 2024 and did not finish it in 2025. This is her first world record. Rajpaul Pannu won the men's race, his third straight, in 11:38, and Paulson was second across the line overall.
Seven-minute miles for 100 miles. The road ultra is the least watched corner of running and, mile for mile, among the hardest.
Sources: iRunFar; USATF Utah; iRunFar.
