2017 - Guinness World Record 24h treadmill
Every so often someone does something you believed it was extremely improbable. And you gasp at the idea.
Once in a blue moon that person is yourself and while you are truly humble and thankful, you are not totally surprised as you know how much you worked for it.
On Saturday April 29th I stepped on a treadmill, pressed the START button at 10:30AM and I kept running until Sunday 10:30AM. Over the 24h I covered 261.180 km, and set a new Guinness World Record by just 780meters.
Despite the tiny margin, at no point throughout the whole run I doubted that I could make it. Even during the toughest time, when I cried from the physical and mental pain of the challenge, I was confident and somewhat in control. After several hours in, I finally made peace with the idea of the pain that was still ahead of me and embraced it – rather than fight it. That’s when I broke through my own barriers and finally leaned in.
While the official training for this attempt started 6 months ago, the unofficial training started on Saturday February 18th 2012. I know the date precisely because it was the day after the first OUTRUN CANCER Corporate Treadmill marathon - now an annual fundraiser for cancer prevention. The day before I had run a marathon on treadmill as a training run to my first fundraiser ( 20 marathons in 29 days across Italy). I woke up on the Saturday sore and mentally drained. “I wonder how far people can go on a treadmill” - I thought out loud enough for Google to respond "238km (the record at the time) in 24 hours!".
The idea of running 24 hours on a treadmill kept buzzing in my head and in 2015 I gave in to the curiosity in yet another OUTRUN CANCER fundraising challenge. In that occasion I managed to cover 210km and the hours during the night were absolute hell. I bonked and walked for ages, hanging on to the treadmill handles to save my life. I was extremely happy I covered the impressive distance and hit the fundraising target of $100,000 - but deep inside I knew I could have done better.
On Saturday April 29th I stepped on a treadmill, pressed the START button at 10:30AM and I kept running until Sunday 10:30AM. Over the 24h I covered 261.180 km, and set a new Guinness World Record by just 780meters.
Despite the tiny margin, at no point throughout the whole run I doubted that I could make it. Even during the toughest time, when I cried from the physical and mental pain of the challenge, I was confident and somewhat in control. After several hours in, I finally made peace with the idea of the pain that was still ahead of me and embraced it – rather than fight it. That’s when I broke through my own barriers and finally leaned in.
While the official training for this attempt started 6 months ago, the unofficial training started on Saturday February 18th 2012. I know the date precisely because it was the day after the first OUTRUN CANCER Corporate Treadmill marathon - now an annual fundraiser for cancer prevention. The day before I had run a marathon on treadmill as a training run to my first fundraiser ( 20 marathons in 29 days across Italy). I woke up on the Saturday sore and mentally drained. “I wonder how far people can go on a treadmill” - I thought out loud enough for Google to respond "238km (the record at the time) in 24 hours!".
The idea of running 24 hours on a treadmill kept buzzing in my head and in 2015 I gave in to the curiosity in yet another OUTRUN CANCER fundraising challenge. In that occasion I managed to cover 210km and the hours during the night were absolute hell. I bonked and walked for ages, hanging on to the treadmill handles to save my life. I was extremely happy I covered the impressive distance and hit the fundraising target of $100,000 - but deep inside I knew I could have done better.
I am a runner for the reasons we all are: I love the endorphins of speed and challenge, the freedom it gives me, the way it makes me feel, the people I meet, the clearness of mind after a long run, and so on... But I also run because I believe this is my unique way to give back and support a cause close to my heart: fighting cancer. It’s no coincidence I started running only late in life, in 2009 at the age of 31, and started tackling longer distances only after my mum passed away of pancreatic cancer in 2011.
This personal quest acquired a whole meaning once I’ve become a father. Our two beautiful children are healthy and beaming with energy and my wife and I couldn’t feel more blessed. But we also seen families affected by cancer. Kids who never get to be kids because of the treatments, surgeries, pain and frustration they have to experience. The heart breaking moments some parents have to go through. This struck a chord with us to lend a hand and awoken the desire of jumping back on the treadmill for 24 hours to raise funds for Camp Quality, a children cancer charity.
Compare to 2015, from a running perspective this time around I took things way more seriously, with a precise target: 261km - the Guinness Record distance. It’s very hard to keep fundraising for the same cause, with the same people, doing something you have done before. So the GWR distance was a way to spark interest and reach a wider audience and hit the new fundraising target of $100,000. Similarly, it was also a way to motivate myself to get back on the treadmill and see what I could do.
Absolutely nothing was left to chance; I raised the stakes taking commitment with several partners to put myself under enough pressure to deliver. I partnered with Technogym (world leader in gym equipment) to host the attempts at the Sydney Fitness Show (Australia biggest fitness event), I seeked sponsorship to cover costs (Macquarie Bank came on board as major sponsor), we produced a video documentary that will be premiered at the Run Nation film festival and arranged for the whole 24 hours to be live streamed on Facebook.
This personal quest acquired a whole meaning once I’ve become a father. Our two beautiful children are healthy and beaming with energy and my wife and I couldn’t feel more blessed. But we also seen families affected by cancer. Kids who never get to be kids because of the treatments, surgeries, pain and frustration they have to experience. The heart breaking moments some parents have to go through. This struck a chord with us to lend a hand and awoken the desire of jumping back on the treadmill for 24 hours to raise funds for Camp Quality, a children cancer charity.
Compare to 2015, from a running perspective this time around I took things way more seriously, with a precise target: 261km - the Guinness Record distance. It’s very hard to keep fundraising for the same cause, with the same people, doing something you have done before. So the GWR distance was a way to spark interest and reach a wider audience and hit the new fundraising target of $100,000. Similarly, it was also a way to motivate myself to get back on the treadmill and see what I could do.
Absolutely nothing was left to chance; I raised the stakes taking commitment with several partners to put myself under enough pressure to deliver. I partnered with Technogym (world leader in gym equipment) to host the attempts at the Sydney Fitness Show (Australia biggest fitness event), I seeked sponsorship to cover costs (Macquarie Bank came on board as major sponsor), we produced a video documentary that will be premiered at the Run Nation film festival and arranged for the whole 24 hours to be live streamed on Facebook.
Training wise, I picked up the phone and called the previous record holder Dave Proctor from Canada to learn from his record, asked the mighty Pat Farmer to be my mentor, talked to a nutritionist and reached out to Martin Fryer for advice. A note on Dave Proctor: Dave is a world top athlete from Canada and a fantastic human being. Strange to many, but absolutely normal to us two, Dave shared his experience of running the record distance on the treadmill. We built a friendship through this attempt and I truly hope I’ll be able to run with him one day soon.
As my ultimate accountability group, I “enrolled” a teams of 12 male and a team of 12 female elite runners, my local running heroes, to run along side me and attempt their respective team records for 24hours on treadmill: 400km (3:30 pace!) and 317km (4:30 pace) respectively. (see names of runners and their crazy splits below)
I got down to business with absolute no distractions. For six months there were no fun or recreational runs, every single day and every single session was focused to one single outcome - to run 261km on a treadmill. From January onwards, 90% of my running was on a Technogym Myrun treadmill in my garage. I was honestly a bit sceptical it could cope with the load, 100+km runs and 1900km total in 4 months.. it didn’t miss a beat.
My neighbours saw me running at every hour of the day and night – yes I was the weirdo on the treadmill without a life -, testing and simulating every single thing: pre-race breakfast, several combinations of foods and fluids and caffeine, headphones and music, movies and audiobooks, distance and position and power of the cooling fans, anti-chafe creams and gels, different running style and positions on the belt, different t-shirts and singlets and headbands, ways to communicate with my support team. During my long training run of 60-70-80km which often started after a full day of work and after putting the kids to bed and finishing in time to cook them breakfast and take them to the beach, I focused on a 1 meter gap between the two houses on the other side of the street. Most times I ran without music or entertainment... “Just run” - I told myself - “it’s all good mental training”.
Four months ahead of the event I took 1 and then 2 unpaid leave days weekly, to stay on top of the organisational side of things and to train a little more.
This obviously came at an enormous price of sleep deprivation, constant feeling of missing out, tension with my wife and family, finances set backs and constant anxiety. To the point I raised the white flag and ask my mother in law, my sister and my best friend to fly over from Italy to help us out - which they did and literally saved the day.
As my ultimate accountability group, I “enrolled” a teams of 12 male and a team of 12 female elite runners, my local running heroes, to run along side me and attempt their respective team records for 24hours on treadmill: 400km (3:30 pace!) and 317km (4:30 pace) respectively. (see names of runners and their crazy splits below)
I got down to business with absolute no distractions. For six months there were no fun or recreational runs, every single day and every single session was focused to one single outcome - to run 261km on a treadmill. From January onwards, 90% of my running was on a Technogym Myrun treadmill in my garage. I was honestly a bit sceptical it could cope with the load, 100+km runs and 1900km total in 4 months.. it didn’t miss a beat.
My neighbours saw me running at every hour of the day and night – yes I was the weirdo on the treadmill without a life -, testing and simulating every single thing: pre-race breakfast, several combinations of foods and fluids and caffeine, headphones and music, movies and audiobooks, distance and position and power of the cooling fans, anti-chafe creams and gels, different running style and positions on the belt, different t-shirts and singlets and headbands, ways to communicate with my support team. During my long training run of 60-70-80km which often started after a full day of work and after putting the kids to bed and finishing in time to cook them breakfast and take them to the beach, I focused on a 1 meter gap between the two houses on the other side of the street. Most times I ran without music or entertainment... “Just run” - I told myself - “it’s all good mental training”.
Four months ahead of the event I took 1 and then 2 unpaid leave days weekly, to stay on top of the organisational side of things and to train a little more.
This obviously came at an enormous price of sleep deprivation, constant feeling of missing out, tension with my wife and family, finances set backs and constant anxiety. To the point I raised the white flag and ask my mother in law, my sister and my best friend to fly over from Italy to help us out - which they did and literally saved the day.
So when I stepped on that treadmill on April 29th, there was no way I could allow myself to step off without giving the absolute 100%. There was too much at stake. I went way too out of my comfort zone and my way, involved too many people and invested so much money, time and energy on this.
The only way I could get off that treadmill was with a record distance or if I face plant on the belt and felt unconscious. Or both.
The venue, the people, the host, the environment – everything was perfect on race day. As the loud horn signalled the start of the countdown, I set the treadmill to 5:00/km pace and smiled away. The rollercoaster of emotion had started and there was no easy option to take home the result.
I hit my checkpoints of 6 hours (70km), 100km (8h:40m), 12 hours (137km), and 200km (18:05h) all within a 500m or two and a half minute precision, and although I was relieved, it was hardly a surprise for me. I went through the different scenario and played with the numbers so many times during my training, I knew my hourly splits by heart.
This does not mean I didn’t get caught off guard - hell no. The biggest issue which manifested right from the start was the heat.
The one thing I couldn’t simulate in my garage was the actual setup of the Techogym stage. In particular the heat generated by the big lamps on the ceiling and all around us and from the huge screen behind the treadmills. It was like running in a sauna. My heart rate was almost 20bpm higher than normal for the pace. I was sweating like sinner in a church and had some bad ass chafing on both armpits four hours into the run. I followed the advice from my friend Mark and took my Garmin off as I was freaking out by my heart rate close to 160bpm at a time when it was meant to be under 140. Just a month before in a short training run with poor ventilation I ended up destroyed and ill for few days to follow. I went through a tube of anti-chafe during the first 10 hours until my ingenious support team cut up a t-shirt that looked like it belonged to the Incredible Hulk, but surely did the job. They pointed 2 industrial fans at full blast at me to cool me down, which worked just ok.
Like Mohamed Ali once said “it isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe”.
The heart rate remained high the whole way and I never really got on top of electrolyte consumption (which in turns didn’t help with the high heart rate) as I pushed for carbs and sugar intake to keep me focused and moving.
Toilet stops (3) were more of a psychological break than a physical necessity. Every time I got off the treadmill it felt like I was stepping into a different world.
The venue, the people, the host, the environment – everything was perfect on race day. As the loud horn signalled the start of the countdown, I set the treadmill to 5:00/km pace and smiled away. The rollercoaster of emotion had started and there was no easy option to take home the result.
I hit my checkpoints of 6 hours (70km), 100km (8h:40m), 12 hours (137km), and 200km (18:05h) all within a 500m or two and a half minute precision, and although I was relieved, it was hardly a surprise for me. I went through the different scenario and played with the numbers so many times during my training, I knew my hourly splits by heart.
This does not mean I didn’t get caught off guard - hell no. The biggest issue which manifested right from the start was the heat.
The one thing I couldn’t simulate in my garage was the actual setup of the Techogym stage. In particular the heat generated by the big lamps on the ceiling and all around us and from the huge screen behind the treadmills. It was like running in a sauna. My heart rate was almost 20bpm higher than normal for the pace. I was sweating like sinner in a church and had some bad ass chafing on both armpits four hours into the run. I followed the advice from my friend Mark and took my Garmin off as I was freaking out by my heart rate close to 160bpm at a time when it was meant to be under 140. Just a month before in a short training run with poor ventilation I ended up destroyed and ill for few days to follow. I went through a tube of anti-chafe during the first 10 hours until my ingenious support team cut up a t-shirt that looked like it belonged to the Incredible Hulk, but surely did the job. They pointed 2 industrial fans at full blast at me to cool me down, which worked just ok.
Like Mohamed Ali once said “it isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe”.
The heart rate remained high the whole way and I never really got on top of electrolyte consumption (which in turns didn’t help with the high heart rate) as I pushed for carbs and sugar intake to keep me focused and moving.
Toilet stops (3) were more of a psychological break than a physical necessity. Every time I got off the treadmill it felt like I was stepping into a different world.
The "dark hours” started 11pm and lasted till 7am. With over 140km in my legs, everything hurt but I could deal with that - the realisation of what was still ahead was the scary part. I took 3x 4minute rest breaks, which I had not exactly trained for.
The first one particularly, was called suddenly as I found myself dozing off while running. Very dangerous as I could trip over and fell or even worse, lose my balance and unconsciously grab on the treadmill handles which would result in immediate disqualification. My amazing team responded like a Navy Seals taskforce: as soon as I dismounted, they took me to an area away from everyone, wrapped me in a sleeping bag like a burrito and let me zone out while they kept an eye on the stop watch. The treadmill could only pause for a maximum 5 minutes, so whether I liked it or not that was all the time I had to get on with things.
Like I experienced in 2015, these breaks were good for the soul but total hell for the body and the mind: the calves and hamstrings getting immediately tighter than a scotsman wallet and my conscious mind screaming at me “WTF! not again. Just call it the day, you fool!".
I didn’t have much room for easing back into pace; so after every break I had to go back under 5:30 pace pretty quickly for a 2 hours stint. Getting the legs moving was painful and letting go of the fear was daunting as it was committing not to stop.
I have no idea how my wife Lidia kept me moving. How she could find the right words, the right tone of voice, the right determination to get me to accept the inevitable is beyond me. She is a very special person and our connection is.. how shall I say.. mystical. Although supportive of the idea of me running 24 hours on the treadmill, she had never willingly signed up for all the hard work. She was wiser than me seeing clearly what that meant for our young family with a 4 months old baby and a 2 years old toddler. Now she was on my side for the full 24 hours, completely tuned in on the task, showing strength for both of us.
Like I experienced in 2015, these breaks were good for the soul but total hell for the body and the mind: the calves and hamstrings getting immediately tighter than a scotsman wallet and my conscious mind screaming at me “WTF! not again. Just call it the day, you fool!".
I didn’t have much room for easing back into pace; so after every break I had to go back under 5:30 pace pretty quickly for a 2 hours stint. Getting the legs moving was painful and letting go of the fear was daunting as it was committing not to stop.
I have no idea how my wife Lidia kept me moving. How she could find the right words, the right tone of voice, the right determination to get me to accept the inevitable is beyond me. She is a very special person and our connection is.. how shall I say.. mystical. Although supportive of the idea of me running 24 hours on the treadmill, she had never willingly signed up for all the hard work. She was wiser than me seeing clearly what that meant for our young family with a 4 months old baby and a 2 years old toddler. Now she was on my side for the full 24 hours, completely tuned in on the task, showing strength for both of us.
It’s during these hard hours another thing became evident. This was definitely not a solo mission, I was feeding off the energy of the team around me.
While at the start of the day, we had a team of female runners, a team of male runners, a team of timekeepers, etc.., by night we were all ONE team. Looking after and trusting each other. Male and female athletes couldn’t sleep leaving others on the treadmill. Same for all friends and supporters coming at every hour throughout the night. The area was full of people, chilling out, cheering, chatting, stretching and keeping an eye out to help in any way possible. We even had a friend DJ turning up to keep the buzz.
This meant the world for me - although I was only able to acknowledge all that was happening with a wink.
During the my last big deep, four hours to the end, the words, wisdom and experience of Mr Endurance, Brendan Davies, came to support. He assured me I would go through the tough patch; to embrace the moment and the challenge. The sun was about to rise and it would be a completely different thing after that.
Sadly, you can’t actually see the sun raising inside a convention centre where the light is the same 24/7! So that second wind never really came.
Three hours to the end I took the last short break. From that moment onwards I hardly spoke to anyone, mentally and emotionally retreating into a place deep within me I didn’t know existed. My gaze switched between Lidia and straight ahead on a red dot I positioned on a pole 10 meters away, my focus point for the whole run.
If the lack of natural sunlight denied me of a power lift, the female team gave me one, two hours ahead of schedule. They broke their record of 317km with plenty of time to spare. Soon after, with an hour and fifteen minutes lead, also the male team broke free of the previous record of 400km. They were now going for the “officially amazing” part of their Guinness World Record.
I just had to bring home my own record now.
I pushed hard to hit 250,6km in 23 hours, my last milestone. From there I had the peace of mind I only had to maintain 6 min/km. I set the treadmill to 10.4km/h (5:45min/km, actually the slowest I had run the whole day) and I went on auto-pilot. There was no reason to go any faster and I just wanted to avoid the possibility of ruining a great run doing something stupid. I was feeling light headed and overwhelmed by the excitement, tiredness, dehydration and I worked very hard to shut off from everything that was happening around me and just keep moving.
During the my last big deep, four hours to the end, the words, wisdom and experience of Mr Endurance, Brendan Davies, came to support. He assured me I would go through the tough patch; to embrace the moment and the challenge. The sun was about to rise and it would be a completely different thing after that.
Sadly, you can’t actually see the sun raising inside a convention centre where the light is the same 24/7! So that second wind never really came.
Three hours to the end I took the last short break. From that moment onwards I hardly spoke to anyone, mentally and emotionally retreating into a place deep within me I didn’t know existed. My gaze switched between Lidia and straight ahead on a red dot I positioned on a pole 10 meters away, my focus point for the whole run.
If the lack of natural sunlight denied me of a power lift, the female team gave me one, two hours ahead of schedule. They broke their record of 317km with plenty of time to spare. Soon after, with an hour and fifteen minutes lead, also the male team broke free of the previous record of 400km. They were now going for the “officially amazing” part of their Guinness World Record.
I just had to bring home my own record now.
I pushed hard to hit 250,6km in 23 hours, my last milestone. From there I had the peace of mind I only had to maintain 6 min/km. I set the treadmill to 10.4km/h (5:45min/km, actually the slowest I had run the whole day) and I went on auto-pilot. There was no reason to go any faster and I just wanted to avoid the possibility of ruining a great run doing something stupid. I was feeling light headed and overwhelmed by the excitement, tiredness, dehydration and I worked very hard to shut off from everything that was happening around me and just keep moving.
The build up in the last hour was extraordinary.
As the minutes passed, the area around the stage got busier and busier, with all the athletes back to cheer us on. The exhibitors and visitors wondering what was going on as Jason took over the MC duties to push me on with his words. The teams picked up their pace to finish in style, I just hanged on trying to block off the noise and go through the emotions. I felt guilty not to join in the fun and not to acknowledge anyone’s presence. But There was plenty of time for that later.
Only with 6 minutes left on the clock and only 500 meters to cover for the record, I finally eased the focus and smiled.
The time seemed to accelerate and I found myself at the 260.4km mark, totally unprepared. My emotions just erupted – I cried and screamed raising my arms high.
The outburst of energy left me confused and didn’t know what to do. Jeff next to me, promptly reminded me I still had 3 minutes to go so I carried on, unsure on whether I should speed up or slow down or what. I think I sped up a little but honestly I have no idea. I cannot recall the 60 seconds and the 10 seconds countdown either, I know it happened because there is a video of it not because I have a clear memory.
I cannot even recall the moments after when I walked off the treadmill and Jason put a microphone in my hand right away. Thank you for the warning!
How do you train for months with such a specific goal and run 24 hours straight to reach it and have never thought what you could possibly say when you get off that thing is beyond me! So, without thinking, I said what I truly think.
“this wasn’t about breaking records. This was about doing something we love and helping others. And maybe.. just maybe, in the process achieving something incredible”.
..to the question “What’s next”, I can only say that my priority number 1 is to look after my young family who have given me so much support in the last few years. At the same time, cancer doesn’t stop his race and I won’t either. It hasn’t seen the best of me yet.
Final distances: Luca 261.18km. Male Team 424.63km, Female 346.24km
As the minutes passed, the area around the stage got busier and busier, with all the athletes back to cheer us on. The exhibitors and visitors wondering what was going on as Jason took over the MC duties to push me on with his words. The teams picked up their pace to finish in style, I just hanged on trying to block off the noise and go through the emotions. I felt guilty not to join in the fun and not to acknowledge anyone’s presence. But There was plenty of time for that later.
Only with 6 minutes left on the clock and only 500 meters to cover for the record, I finally eased the focus and smiled.
The time seemed to accelerate and I found myself at the 260.4km mark, totally unprepared. My emotions just erupted – I cried and screamed raising my arms high.
The outburst of energy left me confused and didn’t know what to do. Jeff next to me, promptly reminded me I still had 3 minutes to go so I carried on, unsure on whether I should speed up or slow down or what. I think I sped up a little but honestly I have no idea. I cannot recall the 60 seconds and the 10 seconds countdown either, I know it happened because there is a video of it not because I have a clear memory.
I cannot even recall the moments after when I walked off the treadmill and Jason put a microphone in my hand right away. Thank you for the warning!
How do you train for months with such a specific goal and run 24 hours straight to reach it and have never thought what you could possibly say when you get off that thing is beyond me! So, without thinking, I said what I truly think.
“this wasn’t about breaking records. This was about doing something we love and helping others. And maybe.. just maybe, in the process achieving something incredible”.
..to the question “What’s next”, I can only say that my priority number 1 is to look after my young family who have given me so much support in the last few years. At the same time, cancer doesn’t stop his race and I won’t either. It hasn’t seen the best of me yet.
Final distances: Luca 261.18km. Male Team 424.63km, Female 346.24km
The most exciting ideas and visions become reality only when others believe in them and become advocates.
I was extremely fortunate to find individuals and corporates who believe in what I believe and together we made this happen.
Above all, I wanted to thank my wife Lidia, my closest family and friends. This was harder on you than what I imagined.
Thank you to all the runners, male female and mixed teams who shared with me the mental and physical pain of this undertaking and created the necessary buzz to reach our awareness and fundraising goal.
Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who kept things running smoothly, fed me, kept me motivated and spurred me on with their positive energy.
Thank you to Technogym, The Fitness Show, Macquarie Bank, Camp Quality, Industrie & Co for associating their brand with us; something I am truly proud of.
I was extremely fortunate to find individuals and corporates who believe in what I believe and together we made this happen.
Above all, I wanted to thank my wife Lidia, my closest family and friends. This was harder on you than what I imagined.
Thank you to all the runners, male female and mixed teams who shared with me the mental and physical pain of this undertaking and created the necessary buzz to reach our awareness and fundraising goal.
Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who kept things running smoothly, fed me, kept me motivated and spurred me on with their positive energy.
Thank you to Technogym, The Fitness Show, Macquarie Bank, Camp Quality, Industrie & Co for associating their brand with us; something I am truly proud of.
The journey: YouTube playlist
The training and the updates: YouTube playlist
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