Calgary runner completes epic marathon challenge
It takes a certain kind of human — a superhuman, perhaps — to take on a challenge as daunting as running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
Calgary accountant and runner Stephen Park, 44, said he’d always dreamed of running a marathon on every continent, but when he signed up for the Triple 7 Quest run, he never imagined completing such a monumental task in only a week.
“When I found out about the race, I was intrigued,” Park said. “I’ve always loved travel, and it was so far out there I knew it would be a huge challenge for my mind and body.”
An avid marathoner in the early 2000s, Park said he took a 12-year hiatus from running after he got married (he actually proposed to his wife at the finish line of the New York City Marathon) and had children.
“Things were busy with family life, raising three kids, and I gained some weight,” Park said. “In 2015 I made a New Year’s resolution, and I signed up for the Great Wall (of China) Marathon. That’s when I got addicted to running again.”
And run Park did, flying around the world to complete races in Perth, Singapore, Cairo, Amsterdam, New York, Chile and Antarctica in just seven days.
“It was quite an amazing experience,” he said. “I’d never run a back-to-back marathon in my life. Usually when you run, you have all sorts of strategies and get time to recover.”
The marathon in Perth turned out to be a tough starting point for Park. He had spent more than 20 hours on a plane, and then had to race in unforgiving 35-degree heat.
“It was a very tough race — I was literally running through sprinklers and dumping water on my head to stay cool,” Park said. “Singapore was hard too, it was really humid and we got rained on a bit.”
Of all places in all continents, Park said the most memorable race was in Cairo.
Starting the race when night fell, Park said runners had to navigate the chaotic streets of Cairo, dodging cars and people carrying guns, boosted by fear of the unknown and the energy of cheering bystanders.
“We started racing and I realized I had forgotten to use the bathroom. I went to a mosque, but they wouldn’t let me in,” he said with a laugh. “It was pretty scary in the dark; there was quite a military presence there, guns everywhere.
“Going through major intersections, we had to play Frogger through traffic to get to the other side. We even witnessed a car hit a pedestrian,” Park said.
Zigzagging across the globe, pounding pavement in Amsterdam, New York and Punta Arenas, Park said Antarctica was the most beautiful place they could have finished.
“Running through Antarctica, you would go through Russian and Chilean bases, and we even saw some fellow Canadian expedition leaders there cheering us on as we went by,” he said. “We got to see a bunch of penguins, and after the race I went to the Southern Ocean and iced my feet.”
Chasing the clock right down to the last few minutes, Park is the first Canadian to complete the feat for an official public marathon, finishing the race in six days, 23 hours and 42 minutes.
After seven days of planes, sleeping in tents and marathoning in just about every climate imaginable, Park said it was a relief to be back home with his family and resting in snowy Calgary.
“My ankles are a bit swollen, but overall, I’m not in too bad of shape,” he said. “It was an amazing experience, and it’s great to be home.”
As part of his run, Park set up a donation page for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, raising more than $5,500 so far. For more information or to donate, please visit: albertacancer.ca/page.aspx?pid=747&tab=0&frsid=20980.