Around the World in 7 Days, 7 Continents, and 183.4 miles. But WHY?

This morning marked the beginning of 30+ hours of travel to head from San Francisco to Cape Town, South Africa to participate in the World Marathon Challenge. I’ve mentioned the race a few times, so if you’re sick of hearing about it, here is a link to a story about Fiona the Hippo’s first birthday. She’s adorable.

I’m hopeful I am not a hippo heading into this challenge. My friend Brian Winter, on his recently launched blog, shared a press release about his journey titled:

All Around The World in Seven Days – World Marathon Challenge 2018

I’ve stolen some of his statistics:

• All seven races are the classic marathon distance: 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers)
• Fifty-five competitors will cross 16 time zones between the start in Antarctica and the finish in Miami
• The longest flights are over 15 hours in between marathons. In most cases, the participants will be running within an hour of landing, on little to no sleep
• For some races, runners will have fewer than 14 hours to recover before running the next marathon on the next continent
• Temperatures will fluctuate wildly: It is expected to be 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica and nearly 80 degrees F the next day in South Africa

All of this raises the question of WHY. We co-authored an article on his blog titled Living a Creative, Ultra Life: The World Marathon Challenge that goes deeper into our personal philosophies and reasons for the race.

In a word, for me it’s about the act of creation. This framework has become increasingly important to me as I enter the second half of my life. Creating achievements, experiences and connections, both for myself and those I care about. I even had shirts made. That’s how you know you’re serious.

Ironically, the 100 year old walnut tree in the background of this image has now been diagnosed by an arborist as dying and needing to be cut down. Circle of life. Create. Destroy. Create again.

Featured Image: Renan Bomtempo on Pexels.com