Seven Continents, Seven Marathons, Twenty-Four Days

Back in 2007, I made two attempts at setting the world record for running marathons on all seven continents.  The previous record had been 99 days, and I thought 35 days would be almost unbeatable.  Scheduling all those marathons around the Antarctica Marathon was a challenge, and in the end, I blew away the record....only to find that Richard Takata (who I ran 4 marathons with during that time) had finished in just under 30 days while I had two marathons to go yet.  So, no world record.

After about 5 minutes of being aggravated, it occurred to me that maybe I could schedule something later that year around the Antarctic Ice Marathon.  That schedule was even easier--and could be done in 25 days.  Unfortunately, after completing six marathons, we were stuck in Punta Arenas, Chile, for eight additional days, so my second attempt of the year was in 33 days.  No world record.  Oh--the world record for running all seven continents twice?  307 days.  That was me in 2007.  You can read about both attempts at www.cooladventures.net/sevencontinents.htm.

So, now, after having that stuck in my brain for 4 years, I'm off to try it again.  Here's the plan:

6 November 2011  Soweto, South Africa (Africa)
13 November 2011  Ticino, Switzerland  (Europe)
20 November 2011  Curitiba, Brazil  (South America)
23 November 2011  Fukuchiyama, Japan (Asia)
26 November 2011  Auckland, New Zealand (Oceania)
27 November 2011  Space Coast Marathon, Cocoa, FL, USA  (North America)
30 November 2011  Antarctic Ice Marathon near Union Glacier (Antarctica)

If successful, and everything happens on time, the new world record will be set at approximately 24 days, 12 hours.

I'm writing this from Dulles Airport, where I'm waiting to check in for the flight to South Africa. I'll try and keep up to date with my entries along the way.