Camille Herron

{{Infobox sportsperson {{MedalCountry |the {{USA}} }} {{Medal|Competition|World Championships}} {{Medal|Gold|2015 IAU 100 km World Championship|Individual}} {{Medal|Gold|2015 IAU 100 km World Championship|Team}} {{Medal|Gold|2015 IAU 50 km World Championship|Individual}} {{Medal|Gold|2019 IAU 24 Hour World Championship|Individual}} {{Medal|Gold|2019 IAU 24 Hour World Championship|Team}} }}
 * birth_name = Jacquelyn Camille Herron
 * birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|12|25}}
 * birth_place = Norman, Oklahoma
 * height = {{convert|5|ft|9.5|in|m|2}}
 * weight =
 * image = Herron 2011 NYC Marathon.jpg
 * alt =
 * imagesize =
 * caption = Herron at the 2011 NYC Marathon
 * sport = Track and Field
 * country = {{USA}}
 * event = Marathon and Ultramarathon
 * residence =
 * collegeteam =
 * club =
 * coach = Conor Holt
 * website = http://www.camilleherron.com/
 * pb = Marathon: 2:37:14 50K: 3:20:58 50 Miles: 5:38:41 100K: 7:08:35 12 hrs: {{convert|151.111|km|abbr=in}} 100 miles: 12:41:11 24 hrs: {{convert|270.116|km|abbr=in}} 48 hrs: {{convert|435.336|km|abbr=in}} 6 day: {{convert|901.768|km|abbr=in}}
 * medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Women’s athletics}}
 * show-medals = }

Jacquelyn Camille Herron is an American ultramarathon runner and scientist born on December 25, 1981 in Norman, Oklahoma. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest Ultramarathon runners of all time.

Early life and education
Herron faced early life challenges, including a near-drowning incident at the age of three and was born with Central Auditory Processing Disorder and hearing loss. She has attributed her athletic ability and mental toughness to her upbringing, citing her grandfather, a decorated war veteran, and father as influential figures.

Herron's unique running gait and arm swing are attributed to physical anomalies, including an extra bone in her foot and twists in her arm and femur.

Herron attended Westmoore High School, where she was a three-time All-Stater in cross country, a three-time State Champion in track and field, and valedictorian. In 1999, at age 17, Herron and her family lost their home and possessions during the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak. This event served as a turning point for Herron, who began running longer distances on Sundays as a way to celebrate life.

After receiving academic and athletic scholarships, Herron attended the University of Tulsa, where she was a Top 10 Senior and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise and Sports Science in 2005. She began doing scientific research in college to understand why she had stress fractures as a young runner.

Herron obtained a Master of Science degree in Exercise and Sports Science from Oregon State University in 2007. Her research focused on identifying the optimal anabolic stimulus for musculoskeletal health, emphasizing the importance of frequent light mechanical stress interspersed with infrequent high-intensity stress.

Career
Herron returned to competitive running as a road racer under the guidance of her husband, Conor Holt, a former elite runner and college coach. She attributes her success in ultrarunning to her scientific knowledge and training approach, which prioritizes short, frequent runs to accumulate high volume consistently.

Herron has contributed to scientific research as a Research Assistant in bone imaging/osteoimmunology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She has co-authored numerous scientific manuscripts in this field.

Herron is partnered with Lululemon Athletica, with whom she collaborates on product development and initiatives such as the launch of a women's trail shoe and the lululemon FURTHER program, which included a 6-day ultramarathon for women in March 2024.

Herron and her husband manage an online coaching business.

Notable achievements

 * Herron is a 3-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier and a 21-time marathon winner.
 * She competed on the 2011 US Pan American Team in the marathon, finishing 9th.
 * Herron set the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a superhero costume, completing it in 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 51 seconds, dressed as Spiderwoman.
 * In 2017, she became the third American to win the Comrades Marathon.
 * Herron is the only athlete to win all of the IAU Ultra Road World Championships (50 km, 100 km, and 24hrs).
 * Since 2015, she has set numerous Ultramarathon World and American Records/Bests between 50 miles and 6 days.
 * In 2023, she improved the women’s 48Hr World Record by 14.8 miles to 270.505 miles (435.336 km), the third best performance in the world behind only two men. She is the first woman to hold an outright American record.
 * In March 2024, she set records between 48 hours and 6 days, including 12 World Records. She broke the 33 year old 6 day World Record set by Sandy Barwick in 1990.
 * In April 2022, she became the youngest woman to reach 100,000 lifetime running miles.
 * In 2023, Herron became the first woman to break 24 hours at the 153-mile Spartathlon setting a course record of 22h 35min 31s. She is the first athlete to win both the Comrades Marathon and Spartathlon.
 * Herron has achieved success in trail running as well, with wins at various races including the JFK 50 Mile, Bandera 100 km, Black Canyon 100 km, Tunnel Hill 100 (course record)., Tarawera 100 km and 100 miles (course records at both), and the Javelina Jundred (course record) She won the Tarawera 100 Miler in a new course record of 17:20:52 two weeks after surviving a rollover car accident.

Honors
She is a four-time IAU International Ultra Runner of the Year. She is also a six-time honoree of the USATF Ruth Anderson Ultrarunner of the Year award, eight-time USATF Athlete of the Week honoree, the 2017 Ultrarunning Magazine Female Ultrarunner of the Year, and four-time Ultra Performance of the Year. In 2022 and 2023, she was voted USATF Master's Runner of the Year and the 2022 RRCA Master's Runner of the Year. In 2024, she was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Distance Running Hall of Fame.

Other Interests
Herron has spoken out about equality, anti-doping, perimenopause and increasing women's sports science studies.

World records
According to the International Association of Ultrarunners, USA Track & Field, Global Organization of Multi-Day Ultramarathoners, and UltraRunning Magazine she has set World Record/World Best performances at the following distances, times, and surfaces: