The World Marathon Challenge was completed in January and fulfilled its goal of seeing all the participants cross the finish line of 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. Congrats to all the participants of this amazing feat and congrats to Richard Donovan for putting together and pulling off an amazing event.
When it comes to racing around the world, “The Amazing Race” has a lot of viewers that enjoy the show. But, when it comes to some serious racing around the world, this race has to have it topped!
I wrote several months ago about the Triple 7 Quest trip that is taking place in February. That covers 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days and is organized by Marathon Adventures. As someone who ran solo 26.2 mile runs on 5 continents in 5 days, I know some of what it takes to actually pull off the running aspect of an event like that and it is no walk-in-the-park! 🙂
Then there is Competitours which is put on Steve Belkin. They say it is the Amazing Race for normal people and costs $3,850 per person based on double occupancy. To read more about that, check out their website.
The World Marathon Challenge
And then you have this race – the World Marathon Challenge. While it is very similar to the Triple 7 Quest race, this one is put on by the man who did what is almost impossible – Richard Donovan who ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in only 4 days and 22 hours! Another feature about this race that sets it apart from the Triple 7 Quest is that the Antarctica portion will be taking place on the mainland of Antarctica at Union Glacier.
Itinerary and Info
This race will allow runners to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days! The itinerary for this race is as follows:
- Union Glacier (Antarctica) – Day 1
- Punta Arenas (Chile, South America) – Day 2
- Miami, FL (North America) – Day 3
- Madrid (Spain, Europe) – Day 4
- Marrakech (Morocco, Africa) – Day 5
- Dubai (UAE, Asia) – Day 6
- Sydney (Australia) – Day 7
The route of the World Marathon Challenge – from the website
I have personally run in everyone of those locations (with the exception of Antarctica) and think they have definitely selected great cities – both for running and for travel.
The 2015 edition will begin January 17, 2015. The field of 12 is already full (entrants can be seen here). It will certainly be a once-in-a-lifetime event and one that each racer will remember!
Now, the cost! The package cost is 32,500 euros (about $40,000) for each person! That is definitely going to be the world’s most expensive mileage run – in the truest sense of the word!
To read more about the race, check out the website here. This should be a great race! Frequent commenter Joey has actually run with Richard (the organizer) a few times, including his races at the North Pole and Antarctica and speaks highly of both events.
