Max King’s race results already read like something of a tall tale, given the diversity of terrain and distances. And on Friday, he added a 100K world championship and North American record for the distance to the accolades.

King, 34 and living in Bend, Oregon, won the IAU 100K world championship over the weekend in Doha, Qatar. He finished in 6:27, more than 4 minutes ahead of second-place Jonas Buud of Sweden.

“It was an extremely boring course, not a ton to look at,” King says. The route also wasn’t thought to be especially fast, replete with 180-degree turns and on a tile- and paver-filled surface. The race was held on Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m., to at least partially diffuse high temperatures and humidity.

Despite the unique challenges, King’s finish outpaced the previous standard that had stood since 1995. He prepared for the competition by seeking out parks in Bend that have pavers, completing workouts like 10 x 1 mile at 5-minute pace. Since winning the Warrior Dash 5K world championship in October, he bumped up his weekly mileage to 110 miles.

Over 20 laps of 5K in Qatar, King split between 18:47 and 21:01 on each interval. His fastest was his 13th loop, between 60K and 65K—it was here that he moved from the pack and into the lead for the remainder of the race.

“I surged a bit without meaning to around 50K and started reeling in the leader, and everyone around me started slowing slightly. I was nervous about being in the lead that far from the finish, but just kept pushing. Thirty miles to run on my own,” he says.

When added to the successes of sixth-place Zach Bitter (Madison, Wisconsin) and ninth-place Zach Miller (Colorado Springs, Colorado), the Americans also earned team gold.

Converting his effort to different distances is a fool’s errand, but when pressed, King guesses that he’s in 2:14 marathon shape right now. He said he would love to get to 2:12 for the marathon—the time that his half marathon and 100K are thought to equate to—and plans to chase an Olympic trials qualifying time at March’s LA Marathon. If he qualifies, it would be his second Olympic trials marathon, in addition to two trials bids in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Next year he’s also targeting South Africa’s famed Comrades (Ultra) Marathon in May 2015, but is unlikely to defend his 100K crown due to a scheduling conflict with the world mountain running championship, which King hopes to return to next year, should he finish in the top six at the qualifying race. He won that world championship in 2011.

King shrugs off the widespread success, as if it’s the norm. He tailors his training somewhat to each event, choosing a goal race for every six-month period. “It’s all pretty basic stuff. I’m just working different systems, always doing a little bit of everything—tempo, VO2 max, long runs,” he says.

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