Marathon challenges
Running a marathon is a challenge in itself; it takes months of training, not just for beginners but for the experienced runners too. Many of the marathon organisations offer training plans for people of different levels, forums for runners to get advice and the check nutrition advice too because everything counts when training. A lot people have said that the marathon part if actually the easy bit, the hardest challenge in many cases is the training, having to constantly build up and improve as well as having to find the will power and strength to commit to a dedicated fitness plan.
However in recent years some people have taken to completing some of the most unbelievable marathon challenges you can imagine, here are a few examples;
In 2009 Irish international runner Richard Donovan took on a massive challenge, to run 7 marathons, on 7 different continents in 7 days. He set out to run 26.2 miles in Antarctica, Cape Town, Dubai, London, Toronto, Santiago finishing in Sydney, not only does this seem like an impossible challenge to complete in 7 days but Richard actually planned to do it in 6 days, and he did (the exact results were 5 days 10 hours and 8 minutes)!
Not only did he run a total of 183 miles, he also flew 43,000km spending a total of 60 hours in the air, 12 hours in check in and 18 hours disembarking off planes, going through customs etc and being taken to his next marathon. All of this was in aid to raise money for the GOAL a charity working in Darfur.
During his challenge Richard faced all weather conditions; he started on 31st Jan (am) in Novo Base, Antarctica running in a wind chill of -15oC he finished in 4 hours 39 minutes. By the afternoon of the 31st he was in Cape Town, South Africa, running in much warmer conditions, 28oC he finished in 4 hours 29 minutes. On the morning of the 1st Feb he was up and running in Dubai, gain running in similar warm conditions he finished in 4 hours 56 minutes, this was his 3rd marathon in just 2 days, and he was starting to feel it. On the morning on 2nd Feb, he was in London after a very snowy night; he took on the London marathon running in some parts with snow 1 foot deep. He ran with Steven Seaton (of Runner's World Magazine) at 3am and finished in 5 hours 7 minutes. He then flew to Toronto, Canada, finishing in his marathon there in 4 hours 7 minutes. He then flew to Santiago, Chile for his 6 marathon, running in high temperatures of +32oC, he finished in 4 hours 37 minutes. Then for his last marathon he flew to Sydney, his last marathon saw him run in temperatures higher than 33oC and finish in 4 hours 14 minutes.
This year saw one of the most incredible marathon challenges take place, for 2010's Sport Relief comedian Eddie Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days! During his challenge he ran 27 miles a day for 6 days a week, for 7 weeks, covering more than 1,110 miles of the UK. Eddie started in London, ran through to Cardiff, then Belfast, to Edinburgh and finishing back in London, through each of the countries he ran holding their flag.
Eddie set off on his challenge after just 5 weeks of training, on the 27th July 2009 from London Eddie set off with his tour manager, a sports therapist and his very own ice cream van to give out ice creams to his supports along the way. He would start off at 9am, warm up, eat some porridge and then set off on his daily run. To start with his 27 miles a day took him 10 hours to complete but by the he finished they it only took him 5 hours a day, having split his time right in half, he had made a target to finish the last leg of his run from Hertfordshire to central London in 5 hours and just miss out on doing so by 30 seconds.
His run was far from easy; he suffered from awful blisters, crimps, painful massages and had to take regular ice cold baths every day after his run, as well as losing his toe nails on some of his toes! Through his journey he met people on the way who ran with him and supported him throughout his epic challenge, he was also filmed the whole time by the BBC. Some famous faces also met up with him for a spot of running, they included; Denise Van Outen, Frank Skinner and Steve Cram.
When he arrived at the National Galley on the 15th September having completed his challenge his was met by hundreds of cheering fans, and he has managed to raise well over 200,000. Eddie was named the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year in 2009 for his amazing achievement. Eddie will now have to continue to run every day for as his body has become so used to it, he has also vowed to take part in the Ironman Triathlon; this consists of 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles cycling, finishing with a marathon (26 miles 385 yards) that has to be done in under 17 hours!