Moritz is a former professional gamer and #1 ranked player of Diablo II. He is an Ironman and ultramarathon athlete, including the 251 km self-sufficient Marathon des Sables and the World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons on 7 continents within 7 days). With all his races, he raises funds to support promising research against depression.
Endurance sports brought Justin’s family together – Justin met his amazing wife, Hallie, at a small triathlon in Pennsylvania and the couple got engaged at the finish line of Ironman Lake Placid after both completed a long day of racing. Justin and Hallie have been blessed with two beautiful boys. Outside of triathlons and training runs, Justin has never run an “official” marathon. However, he loves to test his limits and is very excited to tackle the World Marathon Challenge.
Since he gave up his below average soccer career, Steve has completed over 50 marathons/ultras and has lost every one of them, some by huge distances. He doesn't expect this to change at what is his second attempt at the World Marathon Challenge. In 2018, Steve completed the event as part of "Team Joanna (Garvin)", whose support, encouragement, and constructive criticism he will be without this time.
Tuya is from Mongolia and she is a proud mother of three. She is a late comer to marathon running and is joining the 2023 edition of World Marathon Challenge having run her first ever three marathons in 2022, including the Volcano Marathon in Atacama Desert. She is looking forward to an adventure of her lifetime, meeting like-minded enthusiasts and pushing her limits, running on 7 continents in 7 days.
Paul was born, raised and continues to reside in Texas, USA. He started running marathons in 2010 and has run 35 marathons plus another 10 ultra-marathons since that time. In 2021 he co-created a charity, Walk In Love, with his wife with the aim to meet the practical needs of people living within 10 minutes of their door. He is running the World Marathon Challenge to raise awareness in his community of the many needs all around, and how we can all come together to help those in need.
Linda is a Type 1 diabetic for 46 years and enjoys speaking with parents and newly diagnosed individuals. Linda loves to run, travel, and play golf with her husband Eric traveling to find the best courses in the world. She has completed 65 marathons, 2 Ultra’s, and 55 half marathons. She is working on running a marathon in all 50 states, has completed 33 states and just published her first book; Outrunning Diabetes. Linda completed the World Marathon Majors in 2015 and ran The World Marathon Challenge in 2019 and 2020. The 2023 World Marathon Challenge will be her last so she can focus on completing the 50 State Marathons. Linda believes that being outdoors and staying active is important to staying healthy.
Carter is 13 years old and in the 8th grade at Veritas Classical Academy. He started running in Fall 2019, and runs for his school’s track and cross country teams. He has run in a few local 5k’s & 1 10k and ran his first half marathon in January 2022 in Houston. He loved the longer distance and begged his mom to run the half marathon distances on this trip with him. In December 2022, he competed in the USATF National Junior Olympic XC Championships.
Lauren is a 41-year-old mom of 4 kids, Carter (13), Emily (11), Lillian (9) and Julianne (5). She and her husband Joshua helped start a 2 day a week school, Veritas Classical Academy, and she homeschools her kids the rest of the week. She is very involved in her church and the school, and coaches the Jr. High and High School track and cross country teams at Veritas. She’s run 2 half marathons and a few 5k’s & 10k. Her son Carter convinced her to take him on this trip, and she is excited to share this adventure with him.
Amy is 46 years old and lives in Muscatine, Iowa, USA. When Amy signed up for the World Marathon Challenge, she had only run one marathon in her life, 15 years previously. Training for the WMC has been life changing and Amy hopes her experience will help others realize no dream is too big, it's never too late, you're never too old, and anything is possible. As part of her participation in the WMC, Amy is raising awareness and funds for Operation Underground Railroad, an organization committed to ending human trafficking.
Denis was born in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and is married with four children. His running experience and achievements are limited although he has done lots of endurance sport growing up. He has completed just two marathons so far, London and New York, and quite a few half marathons. Cycling has always been his passion and go to sport when he gets time. He raced road cycling for years as a teenager and as a young adult, winning races including the Irish Championships. More recently, he has also completed several half Ironman triathlons and is doing the WMC as a personal challenge to himself, and also has a target to raise £50k for Save the Children. Nearly halfway there with sponsorship so far.
Elaine Du is a junior in NYU Tisch, Member of China Women's Photographers Association. She has completed 15 half marathons so far including in Polar Circle, King George Island etc.
David is a 42-year-old detective from Los Angeles County and ran his first marathon at the age of 18 to get in shape for Marine Corps Boot Camp. He has been running marathons ever since and has now finished over 200 throughout the world including his first 100 mile ultramarathon in 2021. He has completed 37 full Ironman Triathlons and has a goal is to finish every active course in the world.
Matt got a late start in life with endurance racing but over the past 5 years has enjoyed the physical and mental challenges each event, whether a 13.1, 26.2, 70.3 or 140.6, has provided and the learning that comes as you realize the amazing things the human body is capable of doing when you are willing to put in the work. He is thankful to have the opportunity to run for three great charities: the CLADE Foundation (helping those impacted by the war in Ukraine), Healthy Minds Innovations (raising awareness and developing resources and tools to combat the growing needs around metal health), and FAME, Inc (providing opportunities for under-represented minorities and girls to study in STEM-related fields). None of this would be possible without my sponsors and is grateful to all of them for making this once in a lifetime opportunity possible (Probius, GattaCo, Albany Capital, LATICRETE, Superbrewed Food, and Exact Sciences).
Darren Edwards is a record-breaking Disabled Adventurer and Motivational Speaker. A mountaineer and Army Reservist, Darren’s life changed in 2016 when he was involved in a near-fatal climbing accident which left him paralysed from the chest down, and with his dreams of climbing Mount Everest and serving with the Special Forces Reserve in tatters. With determination, resilience, and mental toughness, Darren has overcome considerable adversity to become a record-breaking Disabled Adventurer, World First Expedition Leader, and leading Motivational Speaker. Refusing to let the word ‘disability’ define who he is as a person, and committed to helping challenge the perception of what those with a disability can achieve, Darren has gone on to lead a series of record-breaking expeditions, including ‘Kayak 4 Heroes’, which saw him lead a team of five injured/wounded veterans in kayaking 1,400 kilometres from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’ Groats in Scotland, and led a team in the challenging task of rowing across the English Channel.
Michael Gabriel stumbled into marathoning when a friend asked him to enter the New York City Marathon lottery in 2015 and he hesitantly entered. He got in, started training, and has been hooked on the sport ever since. He’s finished 38 marathons including 4 World Marathon Majors across 2 continents and 19 US states. He’s volunteered as a race pacer, often runs in elaborate costumes, and is always looking to expand his running experiences while making new friends and encouraging others to join in the sport. When he got the chance to do the World Marathon Challenge years earlier than anticipated he jumped at it immediately and can’t wait to experience the event alongside so many impressive people from around the world.
William is part of the Grand Slam Club since 2017 (he ran at least one marathon on all 7 continents and the North Pole). He has notably run the 100km of Biel (Switzerland) 20 times and in 2016 he ran the coldest 100km in the world in Antarctica. In 2021, he also ran 165 km non-stop around Lake Geneva (Switzerland). William has run more than 80 road/mountain marathons (including Everest Marathon, North Pole Marathon, Baikal Marathon, Atacama Marathon, Greenland Marathon, Zermatt Marathon (11x), Jungfrau Marathon (11x), Mont-Blanc Marathon, Berlin, Boston, London, New York, San - Francisco, Melbourne, Paris Marathon etc). Official website : www.operationmarathonsplanetaires.com
Jill Jamieson is the founder of “Memory Joggers”, a social running and adventure group dedicated to raising money and awareness to fight Alzheimer’s disease. With the motto “racing to the ends of the earth to beat Alzheimer’s disease”, she is running the World Marathon Challenge to beat Alzheimer’s and dementia by supporting the Alzheimer’s Association. Although she does not consider herself a runner, her enthusiasm has carried her across the finish line of countless marathons and ultramarathons across the globe (she really doesn’t count them but estimates the total to date to be somewhere between 25-30). When not running, Jill serves as the CEO of a global advisory firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. She has lived and worked in over 40 countries and is an extreme sport fanatic.
Growing up as a competitive swimmer, Kelly-Ann began running as a "cheap" way to stay in shape during law school, and she hated every minute of it. After her first marathon, she swore she would "never do that again," and she transitioned to triathlons. Her background was in swimming after all. She competed in many triathlons, including several half Ironman races and one full Ironman... something she swears she will "never do that again." Through all the training, she realized that she really had fallen in love with running. She has run numerous half marathons and marathons since then. Her favorite race being Marathon du Medoc. In honor of her sister, who is living with MS, Kelly-Ann started the MS Happens Foundations which provides financial support to MS patients and their families. She is running the World Marathon Challenge to raise money for MS Happens! She can't wait to have another reason to say she'll "never do that again."
Sandra is a retired US Naval officer. She began running as a teenager as a result of constant badgering by her three brothers who said she had no athletic ability and she was overweight. She began running marathons while on active duty in Hawaii in 1986. She used to train with the Navy SEALs to get ready for all her athletic events, which included six Honolulu marathons, three Oahu perimeter runs, two Tinman triathlons, many half marathons and the regatta and long distance seasons paddling outrigger canoe. She has completed a total of 24 marathons including marathons on all continents. In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic shutdown, Sandra, a lifelong health conscious person who never even tried smoking, was diagnosed with lung cancer. She lost part of herlung, but soon was back working out. Running and injuries to her knees left her unable to run and in late 2021 both of her knees were replaced. Neither losing 25% of her lung nor all the metal in her knees stopped her from completing the Volcano Marathon in November 2022, her toughest and favorite marathon. Less than a month later she completed the Honolulu Marathon. When she is nottraveling going on marathon adventures, she's helping her husband take care of their rescued kids consisting of one bunny, 2 birds, 2 chinchillas and 3 dogs.
Deirdre Keane is from NYC and works as a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She started running in college in memory of her father, who was a marathoner and passed when she was a teenager from cancer. She got the running bug and has now completed 45 marathons (and 5 ultras!) around the world. Using running as a means to promote philanthropy has always been close to her heart. She is using the challenge as a means to fundraise for an important cause to her. Working during the pandemic impacted her mental health and so many of her colleagues'. It was eye opening for her how impactful depression can be and how difficult it can be to get help during one's lowest points. She will be running 7 marathons on the 7 continents in 7 days to raise money for Vibrant Emotional Health, a nonprofit that addresses mental health needs in NYC and across the nation by offering free services to those who may otherwise have difficulty accessing them and runs the National Suicide Prevention Hotline."
Andrew was born and grew up in Western Australia. Since then, he has lived in England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, the eastern states of Australia, Guernsey and Cayman Islands, where he has lived for the last 12 years. Andrew started running about 15 years ago watching the London marathon on the treadmill. Since then, he has run about 40 marathons, including the majors (except Tokyo to come), a 5-day series and 4 ultra-marathons. Marathons are his healthy excuse to indulge his love of travel.
David lives in the Bronx, NY and is an accomplished endurance athlete. Some of his performance accolades include placing 8th at the Leadville 100, Running from LA to Vegas on foot in four days, representing multiple team USA teams at the world championships for trail running, as well as numerous other large endurance feats. He is currently partnered with On, Red Bull, Pit Viper, and the New York Athletic Club and would like to thank them for all of the support they give him to do epic events like this. He loves to keep the sporting world interesting and this new challenge of 7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days he knows will be a trip of a lifetime.
Moses has been obsessed with the WMC since his mother ran it in 2020. Being able to join in this year's event and run a 10K on each continent is a dream come true. He is also bringing his electric guitar and will be playing Metallica songs at each finish line - since music is his absolute passion.
Alicia ran the 2020 WMC, the 2023 Volcano Marathon, and has her sights on a North Pole Marathon event in the future. When she's not running Richard's extreme events, she enjoys trail running at any ultra-distance. Alicia is excited to bring her son, Moses, along this time and run a 10K with him on each continent - whether she keeps going and runs more is TBD.
Henrik Kolmos, 30, resides in the cold north in Denmark. He started his running career on accident in 2015 with a ”lets try it” attitude at Copenhagen Marathon. He finished the race with only 3 weeks of training prior to competing, just because he got the race ticket for free. After experiencing the runners high he was hooked and have since added a modest 15 marathons to his check list. This includes a 1st place finish at the 46 k 2020 Mjölner Trail, 3rd place at the Polar Circle Marathon + Polar Bear Challenge, 3rd place at the Petra Dessert Marathon in 35 degrees celsius and completing the Danish Coast2Coast, a 70 k night Ultra running across the most northern part of Denmark. The World Marathon Challenge is Henriks first multi stage race, and he is running it just because wants to.
Maryanne has been running with her son Braxton since he was 5 years old. Prior to running with her son, she ran cross country and track in high school. She attended Longwood University in Farmville, VA where she was an Art Major and on the rugby team. Maryanne has spent her career in senior living where she oversees a management company and strives daily to make a difference in people's lives. She has three amazing son's, Braxton who is competing in the race, Bryton who is 10, and Boston who is 7. Over the years she has shared her passion of running with her boys and they continue to run races each weekend. She is most excited for her son Braxton who has had the dream to compete in this race for years.
Braxton is 13 years old from Virginia and has been running since he was 5 years old. He sets his dreams high, and this race has been on his list for about 5 years. Over the years he has raised money for different organizations and has a group called "Braxton Running for People Who Can't". He started his career running for fallen officers in or around the United States. In his spare time, he is an avid reader, loves lego, is an animal lover and loves to study any factual information. He best friend is his 15 yr old dog, Pixie. Braxton hopes to continue running and raising awareness while encouraging people to shoot for the stars.
Dan is the 80-year-old father of three brilliant and beautiful daughters who have blessed him with three great sons-in-law and nine wonderful grandchildren. Growing up on a ranch near the small town of Madill, Oklahoma, Dan was educated at Thomas Jefferson Preparatory School in St. Louis, Mo, Harvard University and the University of Oklahoma College of Law and is still practicing Law and operating different businesses. Dan has been involved in Oklahoma education as a Regent at the University of Oklahoma (1978-85) and the first and only Chairman of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics for 37 years (1986-2023). Dan has completed 230 marathons and ultramarathons but describes himself as the classic tortoise. Dan did finish the 2019 World Marathon Challenge and broke the oldest finisher’s record by nine years. Dan looks forward to us all sharing the same experiences of feeling half dead and never more alive at the same time.
Mao Daqing has completed 150 Full Marathons by January 2023. He's the founder of Ucommune International Ltd (Nasdaq UK), a regional economist, and an rrchitect.
Dan McCoy has been married for 30 years to his wife Megan with whom he shares four children. A former Senior Health Care Executive, he has a masters in Business Management and is a small-business owner in the Homecare Industry as well as the president of the non-profit, MCCOYFOUNDATION.ORG which helps feed lunch to students in Rwanda and provides funds for water distribution logistics in Tanzania. Dan has completed a half and full Ironman, biked across America from Santa Barbra to Myrtle beach, ran the Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford and D.C. marathon, climbed Kilimanjaro and is an avid traveler visiting all 50 states plus 35 countries. Born and raised outside of Philadelphia to Irish Immigrants, Dan lived in MA, IL, and now residents in CT with Megan. He love adventures with new challenges to push the mind and spirit!
Kelly was fortunate to run and finish the World Marathon Challenge in 2018. Having said she would do it again in a heartbeat…well heartbeat. She is founder and CEO of Fitness International Travel, truly a professional passion, and is hoping to complete running the continents for a third time. Kelly resides just north of Boston with her husband of almost 10 years, partner in crime, and her biggest support team, John, kindergartener Scarlett, toddler Bodhi and baby Presley. She enters the challenge having trained chasing around her three little kids and is not quite convinced her past 777 experience is beneficial; ignorance last time may have been truly blissful. With three kids and a third go at 7 continents, she finds her World Marathon Challenge bib #33 very fitting. She cannot wait to join her teammates on this adventure around the world and is grateful for the village back home that helps her reach for the stars! Happy days; happy running!
Munish is a proud father of three girls and husband of a loving wife who supports him in his running hobby with full heart. He enjoys running – but only as a recreational hobby - having completed just 10 full marathons over the past 12 years, including the Great Wall Marathon (China), the Polar Circle Marathon & Half (Greenland), the Dead Sea Ultra (Jordan) and has climbed Mt Kilimanjaro. However, he is a rookie when it comes to ultra-distance running. He thought that having lived and worked in 7 countries, the WMC would be an interesting undertaking to travel the 7 continents. He is running the WMC as a big adventure in celebration of his 50th birthday year and is looking forward to finishing and getting back to a normal schedule with more time for his wife & family, friends and clients.
Brandi is originally from outside of Chicago, Illinois and currently lives and trains outside of Orlando, Florida. She ran her first half marathon in 2011 and, while training, wondered what I could do to make the finish line worth more. At that time, she came across the American Cancer Society endurance program and has since run many half marathons and marathons around the world and multiple triathlons from sprint to Ironman distances with ACS Team DetermiNation. In 2020, she faced the World Marathon Challenge injured and met about 80% of her goals but 2023 will be her redemption.
Lauren first saw herself as a "runner" in college. She ran cross country and track for Northwestern University and there, she found incredible and equally crazy fellow-runners, an intense Division 1 schedule, and the understanding that the mix of dedication, passion and sacrifice for something can lead to incredible things in all aspects of life. It was one of the most pivotal experiences of her life in so many ways. After college, she started to love the marathon distance and after running several in the US and two abroad (Reykjavik and London), she got the idea that she wanted to run one on every continent. Thanks, WMC! Outside of running, she lives in San Francisco, sell homes as her career, and has an amazing husband and family who have supported her on this journey.
Sally Orange is an enthusiastic runner who is the first to claim she is not the fastest or the fittest, but what she lacks in speed, she makes up for with her colourful presence. If you were to ask her what time she is aiming for, she will undoubtedly reply ‘the time of my life!’. Having already completed a marathon on every continent, (dressed as different pieces of fruit! - see her surname), she has some idea of the magnitude of the task ahead, although it previously took much longer than 7 days! As a military veteran who was medically discharged due to mental illness, in keeping with the theme of the challenge, Sally will be raising money for 7 charities, supporting others with mental health challenges. She is determined to continue to break the stigma associated with mental ill health that has led to a global mental health crisis. What better way to do so than quite literally taking the message around the world!
ML Pinkney is a social runner who started running in high school to stay active. Running is ML's 'happy place' because it gives her the mental, physical, and emotional balance she needs to tackle life. ML has been a mentor for the Portland Running Company's Hippie Chick Half Training Group for the last few years. ML’s most rewarding and most difficult marathon to date was the Athens Marathon.
William is known to many as the record breaking “Singapore Paralympic Superman”, and personifies both passion and compassion. Dr Tan is also an accomplished sportsman. An Asia Para Games triple gold medalist, he has also competed in many international games including the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, the World Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He holds six endurance marathon world records including the “Fastest time to complete Three marathons in Three Consecutive Days in Three countries”. In 1987, he realized that, "winning medals, trophies or prize money should not be an end to itself. It should be a means to further goodness and to help people." Since then, he has devoted to championing as well as fundraising for needy causes in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, United States and the United Kingdom. He has skydived, water-skied, sailed and even climbed a 14-storey building to raise money. Some of his ultramarathon endeavours included wheelchair pushes across the length of New Zealand, Singapore to Penang, Thailand to Singapore, Boston to New York to Washington DC and Australia’s Larapinta Trail. He has helped raised more than $18 million on a voluntary basis for charities locally and internationally, over the last 22 years. Some of his humanitarian efforts include Polioplus for the worldwide eradication of polio and Operation Smile. On 6th April 2007, Dr Tan became the first person in the world to accomplish a marathon in a wheelchair in the North Pole in 21 hours and 10 mins despite overwhelming obstacles and extreme conditions of –25 deg C to raise funds for Global Flying Hospitals. On 19th December 2007, Dr Tan became the fastest person in the world to complete 7 marathons across 7 continents on a wheelchair in 26 days, 17 hours, 43 minutes and 52 seconds to raise funds for international charities on 7 continents (including the National University of Singapore (NUS)’s Endowed Professorship in Paediatric Oncology). His amazing race took him to Antarctica, Chile, Egypt, Thailand, Japan, Kenya, Italy, England, New Zealand, and USA between November and December 2007. For four consecutive years since 2014, he handcycled from London to Paris over a distance of 500 km in four days to raise funds for lymphoma and leukemia research in USA, UK, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. His battle against end-stage leukemia has been his longest and most painful RACE. It has transformed him into a more compassionate physician and invigorated him to dedicate his new lease of life to doing more for humanity. On 3 December 2015, he bravely made his comeback to wheelchair athletics (in 100m, 200m, 400m) after a lapse of 7 years (battling Stage 4 leukemia) to compete for Singapore at the South East Asian Games in Singapore. Photo below showing him (Number 5 on his helmet) giving his best at the age of 58 against counterparts 40 years younger. From 5 June 2019 to 13 June 2019, he hand-cycled a distance of 1,600 kilometres across Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats over nine days to raise funds for Breast Cancer Foundation.
Thomas is a 58 year-old runner from Vienna, Austria. After having quit the cigarettes for good in the midsummer night of 1999, his running career started with the Honolulu marathon in December, 2000. Since then he has set several marathon records: First Austrian having finished the World Marathon Majors (2009) / first Austrian having finished the Majors in one calendar year (2014) / only Austrian having mastered the World Marathon Challenge (2018). This last WMC changed his life: he became a bestselling author (Running Beyond Borders, Your first Marathon) / speaker / trainer and coach: Exceeding Limits – 10 steps towards the impossible! He has set three targets for 2023: 1. Running 7 Half Marathons on 7 Continents in 7 Days. 2. Finishing his second Majors round in Tokyo (again: first Austrian). 3. Finishing as many marathons as possible.
Julie was born and raised in Negros Occidental, Philippines. She moved to the US after graduating from college to pursue her dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. She has been blessed to work for an incredible organization, the Ensign Services, Inc. as a clinical leader for 20+ years. She discovered running at age 44 and this inspired a new perspective in her life’s path. She will be running for Kalipay - a non-profit organization in her hometown dedicated to give the abused and abandoned children new hope. As she turns 50 this April, she hopes to have fulfilled her dreams of finishing the 6 World Major Marathons (Tokyo left in March) and this ultimate World Marathon Challenge while living out her newfound purpose of carrying the helpless through life’s finish line.
Ahmet has run the Istanbul Marathon which spans two continents, and The North Pole Marathon, among many others. He loves being outdoors and has done many rock-climbing, trekking (including Everest Base Camp), mountaineering and cycling trips. He is a philanthropist and a trustee of The Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. He is the founder of an award-winning craft brewery. He is 50 years old, married to Maika, is the father of Anka, Ada, and Akira, and lives in Istanbul.”
Pit Van Rijswijck is running to raise funds to fight glioblastoma (brain cancer), the sickness from which his father died. As part of this training, he completed the Munich Marathon in October in a time of 2:59!
After running his first marathon in 2007, Luke ran a few half marathons over 2007/2008. He joined the RAF Regiment in 2008, but suffered a serious injury in Afghanistan in 2011 when he stepped on an IED. Luke was in hospital for two months, followed by a year of rehab. He started training again in late 2012, deciding to do some triathlons. In 2013, he participated in an aquathlon (a swim followed by a run), two half distance triathlons, an Ironman triathlon, a few half marathons and 10K runs. With a subsequent focus on running only, he has excelled at the discipline, finishing runner-up in both the 2014 North Pole Marathon and 2015 Antarctic Ice Marathon, and winning the Invictus Games 1500m in both 2014 and 2016. Luke also won the Volcano Marathon in 2016 and finished third in the 2017 World Marathon Challenge. He ran from LA to Vegas in 2019 as part of a team in The Speed Project (350 mile journey).
For the past 16 years, BJ has competed in Ironman triathlons, numerous marathons, and 145-plus other endurance events. In his time away from running, he is a dad to a 3-year-old boy, a law enforcement detective, a husband, and a teammate with Team Hoyt. Dick and Rick Hoyt inspired BJ to start running, so now it‘s BJ’s turn to represent and thank them while raising $100,000 for their 11 North American chapters. Nothing is more powerful than Dick and Rick’s message of Yes You Can!
Danielle has been running since age 10 and, coached by her father, she competed at the South African championship in middle distance track for several years in the mid 1980 to early 1990’s. While in College in the USA she ran her first Marathon in 2010 (Miami marathon) and over the next several years she completed several more Half and 6 full marathons, an ultra-marathon (50k) in 2019 as well as a 3 half Ironmans (2018 and 2 back to back in 2022) and one full ironman (2018). She has a few reasons for running the world marathon challenge. Her main reason in running the WMC is to honor her father, who passed away the day after her birthday in 2019. She lost 3 of her beloved pets in the last 2 years. And finally, she wants to honor all the health care providers that have been working so hard during the pandemic. Her dad’s last words besides happy birthday was don’t regret not doing something you dream to do.
Ben is the CEO and Founder of Velocity Global, a tech platform that helps companies employ people in 185 countries. As he has traveled all across the world for work, he always packed his running shoes - which was the inspiration to sign up for the World Marathon Challenge. In doing so, he’s raising funds for First Descents - an organization that provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer and MS.
Christopher completed the World Marathon Challenge in 2020 and absolutely loved it. It was such an amazing experience that he had to do it again! Christopher has completed over 50 marathons and Ultras but loves to run any distance in any weather. He has used many of these runs to raise money for multiple charities throughout his life. His wife and kids are his greatest source of inspiration when he runs.
Jin Zhu is a 59 year old nurse anesthetist who loves to run with over 20+ marathons & multiple ultra-trail marathons completed in the past 10 years. He finished the 6 World Marathon Majors in 2017, UTMB 100km in 2021 and now is ready for the World Marathon Challenge!!!
The entire field faced difficult weather conditions from the offset as the Antarctic threw up low temperatures and high winds for everyone to endure and, just when the challenge was nearing its end, hot and humid weather greeted them in Brazil. There was a great battle up front in the women's event as Keane and Julie Uychiat (USA) traded individual continental wins but with Keane to win out on a better overall marathon average time of 3:49:23 hrs. The incredible Dan Little (USA) broke his own record in becoming the oldest man to complete the world marathon challenge at the young age of 80 years.