Little ready to run around the world again
Three years ago, at age 76, Madill attorney Dan Little became the oldest runner to complete seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
In October, Little plans to do it again when he will be just a month shy of 80 years old.
Why?
"I was certifiable to do it the first time and I guess I am triple certifiable to do it the second time," Little said with a laugh.
Little has run 218 marathons or ultramarathons in his life. At age 60, he learned to swim and competed in his first Ironman triathlon.
But the World Marathon Challenge is different from all other races — including the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon that Little will run on Sunday as a tuneup for the challenge in October.
Little will deliver his message about overcoming fear when he speaks Saturday at the OKC Memorial Marathon's Health and Fitness Expo.
In 2019, Little was one of 41 runners from around the world who participated in a marathon on one continent, then hopped on a chartered jet and flew to another, and run another 26.2 miles the next day. They did that for a week.
"Last time in Antarctica it got down to minus-20 and then within 25 hours we were starting Cape Town (the capital of South Africa) and they had a historic heat wave," Little said. "It got up to 103."
The runners ate all of their meals and slept on the jet. Upon landing on one continent, they would get on a bus, go run a marathon, and then head back to jet off to another continent and do it again.
"We were literally in the air 156 hours," Little said.
They still had to unload their luggage from the plane at every destination and go through customs, and then come back through customs again on departure.
"To have run a marathon and then to be standing in line sometimes for a couple of hours, that was painful," he said.
Runners who finished near the front the pack at each venue might have to wait for hours for the others to finish, so they had opportunities to rest, grab a snack and take a shower.
Little would be the last male finisher at each marathon, so he had little time for anything but to rush back to the airport.
"I didn't shower the entire week," he said.
Every runner met in Cape Town to start the journey before flying to Antarctica for the first marathon, then jetting back to Cape Town to run in Africa for the second.
In the next five days Little would run marathons in Perth, Australia; Dubai (Asia); Madrid, Spain (Europe); Santiago, Chile (South America); and Miami (North America).
The last marathon was in Miami, and afterward Little finally got to take a "long, soaking bath" in a hotel.
"I was totally, totally exhausted," he said. "It's a grind."
Little averaged seven hours, three minutes and four seconds for each of the seven marathons.
The competitors had to pay their own way. Little said it cost about $35,000 to participate.
When Little finished the last marathon in Miami, he broke the record for the oldest finisher in the event by nine years.
Little ran in the World Marathon Challenge never thinking he would finish all seven marathons, thinking his body would break down after the fourth or fifth.
When his friend, Tishomingo attorney Dustin Rowe, sent him a New York Times story about the race, Little thought entering it would be a good life lesson for his nine grandchildren: Don't be afraid to fail.
"I wanted to emphasize to them, don't let fear of failure stop you," he said.
Little surprised himself by finishing the seven marathons in seven days. He found inspiration from the runner from China who sat next to him on jet during the World Marathon Challenge. She was one of the 16 women competing in the event..
Her father had not allowed her to compete in sports growing up, and at age 60 she was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis. She was given the choice of treating the condition with medicine or weight-bearing exercises.
She chose exercise, and she could only walk a quarter-mile in her first workout. Two years later, she was running marathons. Nine years later, she was running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
At age 69, she would have set the record for being the oldest finisher in the World Marathon Challenge had not Little competed that year.
"It is incredible what we humans can do," he said.
Little is 79 years old, works out daily and has for almost 35 years, even if it is just riding 20 minutes on a stationary bike.
Little admits to being a slow runner. Even though he never wins a race, Little says his body, mind and soul benefits just by competing.
It doesn't matter where he finishes. His goal is to finish.
Now, Little wants to see if he can complete seven marathons in seven days on seven continents again.
Why? This time Little gave a more serious answer.
"I deeply believe that we can all, young and old, do much more than we think we can," he said. "We should never let fear of failure stop us from pushing our limits and beyond.
"The seven marathons on seven continents in seven days were the most intense, the most challenging, the most exhausting and the most spiritual and inspirational experiences of my life. It was the strange but wonderful experience of feeling half-dead and never more alive at the same time."
"If I succeed in finishing the second time, my daydream will be to do it again with one or more of my grandkids. If I fail, and depending on how badly I fail, I may want to try again just because I failed. Perhaps the best answer is still certifiable."