SPORTS

This woman conquered 7 marathons, in 7 days, over 7 continents

February 07, 2019

Briton Gill battles brutal conditions to claim World Marathon title

IMAGE: Susannah Gill has won the women's title at the World Marathon Challenge. Photograph: World Marathon Challenge/Facebook

British runner Susannah Gill has won the women's title at the World Marathon Challenge after completing seven marathons in seven days, battling diverse conditions across seven continents.

Gill finished a gruelling 295-kilometre (183 miles) challenge in a world record time of 24 hours, 19 minutes and nine seconds, burning up to 5,000 calories a day.

 

The 34-year-old, who started the remarkable journey with the first round in Antarctica on Jan. 31, ran the final race in Miami on Wednesday in 3:26:24.

"It was a crazy ambition that I wanted to do. The challenge seemed absolutely irresistible to me," Gill told BBC.

"Ten years ago, I just wanted to get fit and run the London Marathon. Now, marathon running has literally taken me around the world."

American Mike Wardian claimed the men's title with a total time of 20:49:30 for seven races.

IMAGE: Susannah Gill started the remarkable journey with the first round in Antarctica. Photograph: World Marathon Challenge/Facebook

Competitors gathered for the event in Cape Town on Jan. 29 before travelling to Nova, Antarctica for the first round, where Gill finished second in temperatures as low as -35 degrees Celsius (95 F).

Gill won the next race in Cape Town before battling Australian summer temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius in Perth to extend her winning run.

Four more victories in Dubai, Madrid, Santiago and Miami capped an incredible week for Gill in which she also spent more than 63 hours flying over 88,500km across the globe.

"The first four marathons I was eating quite well and getting enough calories in, and then marathons five, six and seven I've actually been waking myself up because I've been so hungry," Gill added.

"That became a challenge, because I was burning four or five thousand calories a day every day for a week.

"I'll get back to normal life and put myself back together again because I'm sure I'll have some aching muscles."

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Recommended by Rediff.com

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email