Two days after Adidas’ Chasing100 in Nardò, Italy, Aleksandr Sorokin shared a raw and detailed account of what it took to run 6:04:10 for 100 kilometers. Though the Lithuanian star set a 100k personal best, just missing the elusive sub-six barrier, his Instagram post shows the night was about more than splits and times.
“The race was held in the south of Italy, under the cover of night,” Sorokin wrote. Forecasts had warned of oppressive conditions, with 25°C heat and 90 percent humidity. On the night itself, it was slightly cooler at 22°C and 70 percent humidity, still heavy enough to test every breath.
This was not a conventional ultramarathon. A pace car with a glowing “sub 6h pace” sign led the field, while cyclists acted as mobile aid stations, offering drinks and food every 20 minutes. Sorokin described it as “a different kind of challenge, one that required a specific focus from the very start.”
For the first 60 kilometers, everything went according to plan. His stride felt smooth, nutrition was on schedule, and his mind was calm. But, as he explained, that calm was deceptive. “Everything goes according to plan until around the 50-60km mark. It’s a deceptive peace.”
At 70 kilometers, the effort transformed from physical to existential. “The real race, the one we all secretly sign up for, begins at 70 kilometers,” Sorokin wrote.
Fatigue arrived not as a sharp pain but as what he called “a deep, immense fatigue that saturates every muscle and bone.” The battle was no longer against the clock but against himself. “Your biggest enemy is yourself… the singular question echoes in your mind: ‘Will I be able to deal with this?’”
His deepest crisis came at 75 kilometers. “The urge to stop was overwhelming. The fatigue was so immense that my muscles seemed to be on strike, refusing the commands from my brain. In these moments, your world shrinks to the next step.” Step by step, he forced himself forward until the finish line, where his 6:04:10 would go down as one of the fastest 100Ks ever run.
Sorokin closed his reflection with gratitude: “One more time: THANK YOU EVERYONE, who made this happen 🙏🤝👌.”
For the man who already owns multiple world bests, Italy was less about a number and more about showing the raw reality of pushing the human body beyond its limits.
