Announcing The Running Round The World With Miles Event!

I am really excited to announce this pretty intense event/adventure! I have had it in my mind for a few months now and really started putting it together a couple of months ago. I think this will really be a helpful trip for all the readers on many levels. Here is what this event is all about!

Running Round the World With Miles

What Is It?

Running Round the World With Miles is an event that is fusing traveling with miles and running marathon distances (26.2 miles per run). The entire trip has been booked using only miles and points for travel and will involve running a marathon distance on each of 6 continents in 4 1/2 days! That is a total of six marathons distances on six continents!

This event is an adventure that I have put together and will be running. I am the only person who will run the whole event but am already assembling a list of people who have expressed interest in running portions of this event with me! I have done something similar back in 2009 – 5 marathon distances on 5 continents in 5 days. So, I do know what I am getting into with this!

When And Where Is It?

This event will kickoff on the afternoon of September 6 (local time Eastern Europe) and will conclude in the early afternoon of September 10 (local time East Coast USA). Here is the schedule and locations of the runs:

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Why Do This?

The answer to this is actually three-fold. Here they are in no particular order:

Show How To Travel The World For (Almost) Free

I am really excited to use this opportunity to show other runners what is really possible with miles and points for travel around the world. I will literally be flying around the world for under $250 – and doing so in mostly business and first class cabins (not to mention flying the longest segment in the best first class cabin in the sky!).

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Show What Part Running Can Play In Travel And Endurance

I am excited about using this trip to show those who may not have the running bug yet how fun and exciting running can be. It really opens up a lot of the world through a different lens as you take it all in from the ground. Not only is it a great way to cover a lot of ground in a short time, but many marathons give you the opportunity to see cities in ways that are only ever possible on race days. Though I will not actually be running in official marathons, I look forward to showing some of that through my runs. In addition to all of that, I also look forward to sharing along the way as running marathons can really show you what you are made of. Running an event like this accelerates that education quite a bit so hopefully my experience will help you realize how much fun it can be!

Raise Money For Wounded Warrior Project

Finally, but certainly not least, I am excited to be using this event to benefit the wonderful Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit that works with and helps our nation’s veterans who have “incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound, co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001 and their families.”

As an asthmatic, I would never have been able to join the military as I had to use an inhaler. But, just because I was never able to serve next to our brave soldiers, it does not mean that I cannot do my own small part in helping to demonstrate my appreciation for their sacrifice and service. I have purposely designed to have this event end in our nation’s capitol on the eve of the 14th anniversary of 9/11. That day drove many young men and woman to join the military to do their part and I want to honor that service by raising money to help them.

 Wounded Warrior Project Fundraising Link

My fundraising goal for this event is $17,000, the cost that I would have had to pay had I desired to book all of these tickets using cash instead of miles and points. That is a huge difference compared to what I am actually spending and I think that number is a good goal to set. Please help me help our veterans by contributing to this worthy charity. I do not receive anything in return for raising money for them other than the satisfaction that I am able to do a little something to say thanks. If you are unfamiliar with the Wounded Warrior Project, please check this page for more information.

What This Is Not

This is not a world-record attempt. I am, obviously, skipping the most difficult and expensive continent to reach – Antarctica. That is entirely intentional. As stated above, one of the goals is to show what is possible with miles and points. It is not that feasible to use miles and points for travel to Antarctica. Since I am not hitting Antarctica, this would not be considered any type of a record.

This is not an organized event or race. Though I am working to run the same routes as several of the marathons that take place in these cities, these marathon-distance runs are just that – marathon distances and not races. This is not an organized event in the sense that other runners can join for the sake of winning a race. I do want other runners to join me but it will be for the run and companionship and not for competition as there is no race.

If you want to participate in a race even that touches all continents, consider the World Marathon Challenge (they completed 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days as a group this year) or the Triple 7 Quest (they were held up by weather on the last leg so completed 7 marathons on 7 continents in 11 days). Of course, it is not possible to book those trips with miles so you will need to pay – over $34,000 for the World Marathon Challenge (all flights are in business class) and the Triple 7 Quest is $14,000 (flights are in coach). Note: While the World Marathon Challenge is set for 2016, there is no information right now about the Triple 7 Quest for 2016, but I am assuming it will be running.

Summary

I am really excited about this and looking forward to it! I will be publishing posts from now until the event that will talk about the flights I have booked, how I earned the miles, searching for the award seats, etc. I will also be writing about the training involved for this type of event. As you can imagine, I am already ramping up my miles to be prepared for this.

There are also some cool aspects of the trip that I am working on as well. I will have my tracking data on here so that you can actually track me live as I run on each of these 6 continents! I am also planning on having some live streaming video of the runs and portions of the travel.

Finally, I really, really want to run with some of you! If you are in any of these locations (or want to be!), please let me know so I can get you on the list! Between now and September, I will work to have some swag for anyone who can participate with me. When I get to Washington, DC, I really want to see some runners there! I know it is in the mid-morning of a Thursday, but come on out and join me during your lunch hour! You do not need to run the whole 26.2 miles, any portion of it would be fantastic.

So, look for more posts about this event. I am really excited about it and hope that I can pass some of that excitement along to you as well!