Complete The 7-7-7 World Marathon Challenge
Still to do
Seven marathons on seven continents in seven days, starting on the ice of Antarctica and ending a world away.
The adventure
The World Marathon Challenge is endurance running with every comfort stripped away. The clock starts with a marathon on the ice in Antarctica and stops 168 hours later at the seventh finish line. In between you run, shower if you are lucky, board a chartered plane, eat, try to sleep and run again, through cities such as Cape Town, Perth, Dubai and Miami.
The hardest part is not any single marathon but the relentless loop. There is no time to recover, your body clock gives up after a couple of days, and you swing from freezing Antarctic wind to the heat of the Gulf within the same week. The field is tiny, so you live alongside the same small group of runners on the plane, and by the final day they feel like teammates. Finishing puts you in a very small club.
Why it’s epic
- That is 295 kilometres of racing, seven full marathons, inside 168 hours.
- The first edition was held in 2015, organised by Irish endurance runner Richard Donovan.
- The Antarctic marathon comes first, with runners flying in to the ice from Cape Town.
- A chartered plane carries the whole field between continents, so the aircraft becomes your hotel.
What it is
The World Marathon Challenge involves running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
How to do it
Entry is through the World Marathon Challenge organisers and is very expensive.
Top tip
Recovery between flights is as important as fitness.
Need to know
- Fields are small and the entry fee runs to tens of thousands of pounds, so places need booking well ahead.
- You need to be able to run a marathon on very tired legs; back-to-back long runs are essential training.
- Insurance must cover emergency evacuation and medical care, given the Antarctic stage and the travel load.
Make it happen
- FlightsKiwi.com
- HotelsBooking.com
- Adventure travel insuranceWorld NomadsWe receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.
Why it’s on my list
7-7-7 – 7 Marathons – 7 Days – 7 Continents
Let that sink in – not only do you need to run 7 marathons in 7 days, but you have to contend with lack of sleep, jet lag, extreme heat, extreme cold, fatigue on 7 different continents in just 7 days.
its expensive, requires extensive training, involves visiting all 7 continents – It ticked all the boxes for the perfect bucket list challenge!
If you have ever wanted to visit all 7 continents in the space of a week this could be the challenge for you.
The schedule is as follows –
Day 1 – Antarctica, Marathon In Antarctica, Fly To Cape Town
Day 2 – Marathon In Cape Town, Fly To Perth, Australia
Day 3 – Marathon In Perth, Fly To Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Day 4 – Marathon In Dubai, Fly To Lisbon, Portugal
Day 5 – Marathon In Lisbon, Fly To Cartagena, Colombia
Day 6 – Marathon In Cartagena, Fly To Miami, United States Of America
Day 7 – Marathon In Miami.
Fancy it? Head on over to the World Marathon Challenge website and sign up!
Over to you
Have you done this one? Tell me how it went, with any tips, in the comments. It's still on my list.