Think running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days is crazy? Well, 32 people jumped at the opportunity in late January.
Michael Wardian, 42, was one of those folks, and he didn’t just complete the World Marathon Challenge. He set a new world record.
Competitors took on 26.2 miles in Antarctica, Chile, Miami, Madrid, Morocco, Dubai, and Australia. Wardian, who is an experienced ultramarthoner, broke three hours in each destination. Yes, even in Antarctica’s sub-zero temps.
In the seven races, he averaged 2 hours, 45 minutes which smashes the world record of 3 hours, 32 minutes. His fastest race? Miami in 2:37:56. His “slowest?” Antarctica in 2:54:54.
“I had done the training but I was unsure of the other factors that would be thrown at me and what I love about these races is learning how to adapt and overcome them,” Wardian told Sports Illustrated.
He said he only sleeps four to six hours a night anyway, so the lack of sleep didn’t really bother him (The group traveled by chartered plane, which is where they got their rest in). The vegetarian sustained himself on nut butters, gels, Coke, and his wife’s homemade granola and almond coconut balls.
Here are some photos from his trip, and yes, he gets “Run, Forrest, run” all the time.
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