Mike Morton just ran 172.45 miles in 24 hours to win the 24 Hour World Championships in Poland. The old American record was 165.7 miles by Scott Jurek, when he took a silver at the same event 2 years ago. Morton not only won the race, but he demolished the field, beating the second place competitor by 9.83 miles.
Previously in the year, Mike won the Long Haul 100 with a course record of 13:18:58, the Umstead 100 with a course record of 13:11:40, the Keys 100 with a course record of 13:42:52 (all of these on trail with significant gain/drop) and the Badwater 135 (135 miles from death valley to mt whitney, almost all uphill, on roads, in extreme temperatures, high of 118 F at the hottest spot on the course this year) with a time of 22:52:55, 86 seconds off the course record.
5 races in one year, all 100 miles or longer, netted him 5 victories, 4 course records, an individual gold in a world championship event, and an American record by a huge margin.
This guy is truly a machine.