Susannah Gill Smashes World Record for 7 Marathons in 7 Continents in 7 Days – runnersworld.com

This week, Susannah Gill made history as the new world record-holder in the World Marathon Challenge, a brutal feat that involves seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

The British runner completed the challenge in 24 hours, 19 minutes, and nine seconds to beat the previous record by more than three hours. Despite jet lag from daily flights across the globe, varying weather conditions, and very little sleep, the 34-year-old from London averaged three hours and 28 minutes for each marathon.

On Wednesday night, Gill crossed the finish line of the last marathon, which took place in Miami, Florida. With tears in her eyes, she ran her way into the record books of one of the toughest running challenges out there.

“It’s a real feeling now of just contentment,” Gill told Runner’s World. “I genuinely think that those were the best seven marathons that I could run. I don’t think that I could have run any of them any quicker, and that’s all you can ask yourself to do.”

After paying the entry fee of 37,500 euros (roughly $42,508), the 40 competitors in the World Marathon Challenge were flown around the world on chartered planes to complete the 26.2-mile distance in each continent.

The first marathon took place in Antarctica on January 31, where the runners braved snow and 25-mile-per-hour wind gusts. Kristina Schou Madsen of Denmark claimed the first title in 3:47.41, while Gill placed second in 3:53.55.

It would be the last time that Gill finished in a place other than first for the rest of the series.

She logged her fastest time of the challenge in her fifth marathon in Madrid, where she ran 3:11:49 with help from an initial fast pace set by Madsen. In what came down to a sprint to the finish between the two competitors, Madsen followed in 3:12:02, just 13 seconds behind Gill.

“That was epic. That certainly wasn’t part of any race program that I had practiced,” Gill said with a laugh.

Finally, with 157.2 miles over the course of 144 hours in her legs, Gill finished her seventh and final marathon in 3:26:24 on the streets of South Beach.

A few days after her victory, Gill credited the competitiveness between her fellow runners as the motivation that helped her crush the record.

“Without them being there, I don’t think I would have set these times at all,” she said. “We all pushed each other on.”

Throughout the challenge, Gill raised funds for SportsAid, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting young, aspiring athletes in Great Britain. As of February 9, Gill has raised almost 8,000 pounds (about $10,360) for the nonprofit.

Since taking up running 10 years ago, Gill has completed over 40 marathons. Her fastest time was recorded at the 2017 London Marathon when she ran 2:58:02. She has also competed in several ultrarunning challenges, including 100K, 100 mile, and 24-hour races.

Five months prior to the World Marathon Challenge, Gill started working with coach Mike Antoniades, who created a training program that involved heavy sprint intervals as well as long runs at marathon distance.

Her training included a three-hour runs on Saturdays, four-hour runs on Sundays, and sprint intervals on Wednesdays. She complemented that with cross-training—usually walking and a indoor cycling class on Mondays and strength training on Tuesdays, and made sure to hone her running technique on recovery Thursdays. She made Fridays her rest days, when all she would do is some walking.

Before Christmas, Antoniades helped prepare Gill with a challenge simulation where she had to run six marathons in nine days. Throughout the process of training and racing, Gill learned some invaluable lessons about her abilities.

“I learned that I’ve got just as much resolve as I’d hoped that I had, but you don’t know these things until you test yourself,” Gill said. “The World Marathon Challenge is just the most wonderful way of testing how tough you are. Everyone does have the ability to do it, you just have to train really hard and also really want to do it.”

[Smash your goals with a Runner’s World Training Plan, designed for any speed and any distance.]

While Gill is still trying to find her next big challenge, she is currently signed up for the London Marathon and the Greater Manchester Marathon, which are both in April.

“That’s the great thing about running,” Gill said. “I just know that something will come up in the future because that’s the nature of running isn’t it? It can just take you anywhere.”