The World Marathon Challenge, an organized event for registered runners running 26.2 miles on each continent, has finished this past week. It was a success as all 10 runners that started the event actually did finish running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. There were two other runners who completed their goal of running a half marathon on each continent in 7 days.
2015 World Marathon Challenge – Finished!
That is a fantastic effort to pull off! It is not many races that can lay claim to a 100% completion rate and this had to be one of the most physically intense races. That is a great job to each of the 12 runners and they certainly deserve the congratulations that they have been receiving. Check out the Facebook page for the results as they had come in.
The route for the 2015 World Marathon Challenge
The overall winner of the 2015 World Marathon Challenge was David Gething. The fastest marathon run was actually run in the final leg, Sydney, by Doug Wilson with a time of 3 hours and 17 minutes. After running 6 previous marathons in as many days, that is an awesome time! Congrats to both of those gentlemen and all the other runners.
2016 World Marathon Challenge
This race was not a cheap one – the cost was $37,000 per person! If interested, you can check out the website for the 2016 event – here. The fee is in euros (32,000 euros) and, thanks to the currently low exchange rate, the cost is “only” $36,000 for next year’s event. Here is the race schedule (check the website for all other dates):
- January 26 – Marathon in Antarctica
- January 27 – Marathon in Punta Arenas (Chile)
- January 28 – Marathon in Miami
- January 29 – Marathon in Madrid
- January 30 – Marathon in Marrakech
- January 31 – Marathon in Dubai
- February 1 – Marathon in Sydney
As someone who ran 5 (solo) marathons on 5 continents and 5 days, I have an incredible appreciation for the toll it can take on your body and mind. I only wish I had been able to hit the other two continents and that I had been able to do it with other runners. My hat is off to these runners!
My hat is also off to the organizer, Richard Donovan. He was the first person to ever run 7 marathons on 7 continents and he did it in less than 7 days! He did that twice so he had the experience as the runner doing it and organizing it. Again, since I organized my routes and flights, I understand the logistical issues that go into planning a run like this. Richard organizes several other events as well. One of those is the Antarctic 100K. That race actually takes place just before the World Marathon Challenge kicks off in Antarctica next year so he will certainly be a busy person!
If you would like to do something like this yourself but find the price tag on this one too expensive, there is another one taking place next month (different organizer) at the cheaper price of $16,000 – the Triple 7 Quest. Still a high price, but I am sure that these two events will see full fields for many years to come.
I think it’s crazy and amazing! Not only do you have to battle the running part, but also jetlag and lack of sleep! Kudos to them!!! 😉