Running on a treadmill for 24 straight hours sounds more than a little mind-numbing, but when one Norwegian man did just that, he loved every minute of it.

Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger, 39, ran for 24 straight hours on a treadmill starting October 11 at the Aktiv365 Paradis in Bergen, Norway.

He set out to raise money for kids at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, and managed to bring in over $12,000. His secondary goal? To break the Guinness World Record for furthest distance run on a treadmill in 24 hours by a male, which was previously 261.18K, or roughly 162 miles.

“I wanted to do it for all the kids that cannot walk, have heart failure, cancer, and more—for all the kids that cannot do what I can,” Taranger said in an email to Runner’s World.



Friends and family came out to support Taranger, and celebrities ran alongside him in shifts. He said musician Kygo was the biggest star that joined him.

“It was fantastic to have 24 different celebrities running [for] one hour each on the treadmill next to mine,” he said. “I had a blast on the treadmill with a lot of awesome people surrounding me.”

Taranger was committed to the cause, but let’s face it: Running indoors for 24 hours straight is always a tough battle with yourself. “You have to work hard mentally,” he said.

The hardest part for him was hour 15 to 16, and hour 18 to 19. To hype himself up, he said he turned on rock music (bands like Yellowcard, the Foo Fighters, Nomy, and his own band, Goldenboy). “I never quit, I always keep running until I’m done.” he said.

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The physical preparation for this run was the same as any other important ultrarace for Taranger: tapering in the last week, eating a lot of carbs, and doing two sessions of training every day—the second session of which was on a treadmill.

He said the biggest challenge was getting enough nutrition throughout his run during the event. Taranger fueled with carbs like cheese pizza, and snacked on things like salty ham, salty candy, tomatoes, and drank Coca-Cola.



In order to run his final distance of 264.52K, and beat the current record, Taranger said he put the treadmill at a 6.9 mph pace and stayed there throughout the duration. At this pace, he said he was also able to beat his personal best from the Bislett 24-hour challenge in Oslo, and the Norwegian national record of 257.6K.

Taranger has submitted his documentation to the Guinness Book of World Records and is waiting for their confirmation. A spokesperson for Guinness World Records confirmed Taranger’s application to become the new record holder is under review in an email to Runner’s World.

“The best part is all the people who came over to run with me, cheering with me, and of course, the fundraising itself,” Taranger said. “The last hour was totally insane! What an epic hour that was, with people cheering and going crazy everywhere. It’s hard to even describe the feeling.”

Taranger now has his sights set on the world championship title for 24-hour running (off the treadmill). “I will definitely do it again. I had my best 24 hours of my life!” he said.

Jordan Smith Digital Editor Her love of all things outdoors came from growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and her passion for running was sparked by local elementary school cross-country meets.

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