Summary facts about the world marathon challenge

SUMMARY FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE^®

The World Marathon Challenge® is the only annual event that offers the opportunity to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days.
The first marathon occurs within the Antarctic Circle on mainland Antarctica and the final marathon takes place in Miami, North America.
The global route is Ultima Basecamp (Antarctica), Cape Town (Africa), Perth (Australia), Dubai (Asia), Madrid (Europe), Fortaleza (South America) and Miami (North America)
After the initial marathon in Antarctica, competitors fly by charter plane to every marathon location around the globe.
Finishers are recognized by the Intercontinental Marathon Club ®, which provides the definitive list of people who have run 7 marathons on 7 continents within 7 days.
There is a competition element within the trip - the fastest combined marathon times, or average marathon time, for male and female categories are declared the outright winners of the overall challenge.
There will also be a team competition in the 2026 World Marathon Challenge. The fastest combined marathon times of the top three team scorers, who finish all seven marathons, will be declared the winners. Teams can be composed of more than three people but must have both male and female runners amongst their scoring three. As part of a team you are also included in the individual competition.
Participants run 295 km (183 miles) over the seven-day period and spend about 68 hours in the air.
The Book of Alternative Records recognizes the event for world record purposes, including fastest average marathon times for 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days and shortest duration to run 7 marathons on 7 continents.
The Guinness Book of Records also acknowledges the event for record setting purposes.

The 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2025 World Marathon Challenges were resounding successes.

CURRENT RECORDS FOR
7 MARATHONS 7 CONTINENTS 7 DAYS^®

Shortest Average Marathon Time (Men) - Michael Wardian (USA): 2:45:57 hrs.
Shortest Average Marathon Time (Women) - Estefania Unzu Ripoll (ESP): 3:18:30 hrs.
Shortest Duration (Men) - Kyle Vogt (USA): 3 Days 9 Hours 38 Minutes.
Shortest Duration (Women) - Tomomi Bitoh (JPN): 5 Days 19 hours 7 Minutes.
OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
First Blind Athlete – Sinead Kane (2017 World Marathon Challenge).
Oldest Man (80 years old) – Dan Little (2023 World Marathon Challenge).
Oldest Women (68 years old) - Lisa Norton-Motulsky and Molly Sheridan (2025 World Marathon Challenge).
Fastest Married Couple – Catherine Sun & Eric Xin (2017 World Marathon Challenge).
Fastest Brothers - Robert Tetrault & Charles Tetrault, time: 56:47:10 hrs; average 4:03:22 hrs per marathon.‍
Fastest Mother & Daughter Duo in Half Marathon – Ying Liu & Mengfei Liu, aggregated time 40:44:07 hrs, (2025 World Marathon Challenge).

WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE^®

The World Marathon Challenge® is a logistical and physical challenge to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. Competitors must run the standard 42.2 km marathon distance in Antarctica, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and North America within 168 hours, or 7 days. The clock starts when the first marathon begins in Antarctica.

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