The World Marathon Challenge

A note from Jonathon D. Fischer….

There is simply nothing like The World Marathon Challenge – 7 Marathons in 7 Days on 7 Continents, it is the only event that offers the opportunity to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days. Participants run 295 km (183 miles) over the seven-day period, spend 59 hours in the air and fly approximately 38,000 km. Successful participants will be recognized by The 7 Continents Marathon Club™& Intercontinental Marathon Club . It is a logistical nightmare, mixing extreme weather conditions with jetlag & fatigue, not to mention how bad a person feels getting off one international flight, let alone…. doing 7 in a row…

The 2017 event will be the first time a Canadian will participate which in prior years only allowed 15 runners due to the logistical challenges. This year the number has skyrocketed to 30 runners and Fischer is honored to be amongst an amazing field of champions (a few are outlined below); 

  • Ryan Hall is a two time Olympian (2008 & 2012) who also holds the U.S. ½ marathon record (59:43), he is also the only American to run a sub-2:05 marathon
  • Michael Wardian won the 2008, 2009 and 2010 US 50 km championships and the Washington D.C. Marathon in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
  • Chile’s Silvana Camelio, winner of the 2015 Antarctic Ice Marathon
  • Luke Wigman, winner of the 2016 Volcano Marathon in the Atacama Desert
  • Ireland’s Sinead Keane hopes to become the first blind person to complete the World Marathon Challenge

A number of years ago my wife and I created our foundation – JDFF (www.jdff.ca) out of our mutual philanthropic passion – we wanted to inspire and empower people to make the world a better place by providing a hand up, through education, kindness, and generosity.

Jonathon D. Fischer, is turning 55 in 2017 and running The World Marathon Challenge for these amazing charities and others…

#1 Antarctica  – Running for Sick Kids Hospital www.sickkids.ca
#2 Punta Arenas – Running for MPCF www.pinballfoundation.ca
#3 Miami  – Running for Thorn www.wearethorn.org
#4 Madrid – Running for Dog Guides www.dogguides.com
#5 Marrakech  – Running for Free the Children www.we.org
#6 Dubai – Running for Dream Center www.dreamcenter.org
#7 Sydney – Running for other JDFF charity recipients www.jdff.ca

In my 20’s & 30’s I was an avid runner, triathlete and thrill seeker. When I wasn’t helping to rise my daughters (Alexandra and Tatiana), running and expanding a world wide corporation, climbing mountains, flying and jumping out of planes (not at the same time) or traveling the world…I was running and exercising feverishly.  I ran marathons, triathlons and pushing myself to the limits in several Ironman’s. However, life got busy and pulled me away from my intense exercise routines and competitions. Sadly, I’ve been inactive in long distance running since 2003.  The good news is, this year, 2017 I’m turning 55 and I am thrilled to jump at the opportunity to participate in such a unique experience as the World Marathon Challenge.

In my preparation, I scoured the internet trying to find training plans or advice. There were plenty of articles on running one marathon (most suggest a 2-4 week rest thereafter), but nothing on getting up every day after an international flight to run another marathon. So I decided that I would prepare completely different than traditional methodology – getting a coach, sports physician, nutritionist, strength trainer and mapping out an extensive training plan. I would simply build up distances over a reasonable period of time and see how it went, below is pretty much how it ended up;

  • March – 5-8 mile runs, 5-6 times a week
  • April – 8-10 mile runs, 5-6 times a week
  • May – 10-12 mile runs, 5-6 times a week – minor calf injuries
  • June – 10-14 mile runs for the first two weeks, then I got stupid, I jumped up to 15-18 mile runs because I was feeling so good – BAM! I got a hairline fracture! Was told I had to rest for 4-5 weeks!
  • July – 0 mile run, tried to play some tennis but it really hurt and completely screwed up my leg so I did lots of biking (to be honest it was actually pretty enjoyable)
  • August – 12-15 mile runs, 4-5 times a week (started slow and nothing hurt)
  • September – 15-18 mile runs, 4-5 times a week, minor quad and hamstring injuries – I was so thrilled to find an amazing device from NormaTec that helps with recovery – take a look at their website.
  • October 18-22 mile runs, 3-4 times a week (the off days were elliptical cardio) – I decided to try marathon distances – I ran the Toronto Marathon on October 16th and the last week in October I decided to try to run a marathon distance every other day – the first 6 went flawlessly and then I decided to try KT Taping my ankles and knees and screwed up my gait and injured my left hip…
  • November – 20-22 mile runs, 3-4 times a week (the off days were elliptical cardio), although off to a rough start with my left hip the rest of the month went well
  • December 22-24 mile runs 3-4 times a week (the off days were elliptical cardio), again nothing can help “being dumb”…shortly before Christmas I decided to add some beach running about halfway through my runs, sure enough after the second 24 mile run my Tibialis Anterior Tendon got injured, really painful and swollen – 5 weeks before the event…
  • January – trying to lose as much weight as possible now (less weight = less strain on my injury and joints), 2-3 hours of machine cardio 5-6 days a week plus exercises to try to strengthen my ankles, knees and hips 3 times a week (maybe I should’ve started strength training from the beginning – oh well better late than never).
  • As a footnote I should add that my loving wife had advised and begged me to get a coach, personal trainer, sport doctor and she tried over and over to get me to listen to her about proper nutrition (as she is one of America’s leading nutritionist and author of the Skinny Chicks don’t eat Salad and Skinny Chicks eat Real Food) christineavanti.com – unfortunately I’m simply not able to give up my diet of chocolate, soda’s, chips – but I made an effort.  

Race Dates & Times

In summary (all times local)

  • Marathon 1, Union Glacier, Antarctica – flying weather dependent, unknown start time (hopefully 23rd January)
  • Marathon 2, Punta Arenas, Chile – dependent on Antarctica start time, possibly 05:00 on 24th January
  • Marathon 3, Miami, USA – 06:30 on 25th January
  • Marathon 4, Madrid, Spain – 12 noon on 26th January
  • Marathon 5, Marrakech, Morocco – 08:00 on 27th January
  • Marathon 6, Dubai, United Arab Emirates – 09:00 on 28th January
  • Marathon 7, Sydney, Australia – 22:00 on 29th January


Ironman Canada – Penticton

Ironman USA – Lake Placid

Toronto


Climbing Kilimanjaro with daughter Alexandra

15 years ago with daughters

In Africa building schools

About The Author: Jonathan D. Fischer Foundation

JDFF was created out of Jonathon and Christine Fischer’s mutual philanthropic passion - focusing on inspiring and empowering people to make the world a better place by providing a hand up, through education, kindness, and generosity.

2 thoughts on “The World Marathon Challenge

  1. Best wishes Jonathon, Christine – wishing you good heath as you do your 7 marathons! Crazy amazing!
    Anneke, Andy, Chris, and the whole team

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