Thomas Maguire set a new Irish 100km (62.1 miles) road record at the European 100k Championships in Torhout, Belgium at the weekend. Maguire's time of 7.42.24 in his first ever run over the distance saw him finish in a highly commendable 29th position. The race began at 20.00 on June 16th, finishing in the early hours of the following morning. The event was won outright by Spain's Jose Maria Gonzales with Spain also taking the team title. Accompanying Maguire on the starting line was recent Sahara Half Marathon and North Pole Marathon winner, Michael Collins. Both Irish athletes mixed with the top twenty from the outset and passed through their first marathon in 2.54. Collins reached 70k in 5.04, but was forced to retire. However Maguire, who won the Connemara Ultra Marathon in March, recovered from a bad patch mid-way through the event, and went on to post the new record time. The European 100km Championships is considered almost as difficult as the World 100km: traditionally, only Japan only can match the powerhouse nations of Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Belgium and Great Britain. However, Ireland is assembling an exceptionally talented squad for this year's World Cup 100km in Korea on October 8th and have high hopes of a breakthrough top six team finish. Indeed, ultrarunning is progressing quickly in Ireland. In February, Tony Mangan set a new 24 Hour Irish record when running 228.3km (141.86 miles) to finish 16th at the World Championships in Taiwan. A very strong 24-hour hour team, capable of medals, is also expected to compete in the next World Challenge 24H in Canada next year.