Dubai runners' global challenge: Seven marathons on seven continents in seven days

Two Dubai adventurers aim to complete seven marathons on seven continents within seven days, in one of the world’s toughest endurance running challenges.

Britons James Elliot-Square and Paris Norriss will take on the World Marathon Challenge that involves back-to-back 42.2km runs in January.

The pair will experience a world of extremes, setting off from Antarctica where the temperature is expected to be -25C across a course of ice and snow, before jumping on a chartered plane to South Africa where sunshine could see the mercury rise to 30C.

From Cape Town, both will then try to catch up on sleep, food and hydration in the air as they fly to Perth, Western Australia. The fourth leg will see them jet off to their home city of Dubai, before running more marathons in Madrid, Fortaleza in Brazil, and ending in Miami. They will leave an expensive carbon footprint behind from their almost 300km global challenge, but they hope to raise $200,000 to support children’s charities in the UAE and Hong Kong.

“James came up with this crazy idea to run a marathon in every continent on the planet in a week, so seven marathons, seven days on seven continents,” said Mr Norriss, 39, who runs a production company and has form in endurance events, as part of a crew that rowed the Pacific Ocean in 2023. “We have to do the whole thing in a week. So the biggest issue is the logistics.

“When we land, we'll have just a few hours and then we've got to get running. I'm looking to do each one in about five hours and James might get something closer to four hours per marathon. We'll have just a couple of hours to have a bit of food, refresh and then we're back on the plane where we will be trying to recover.”

Guinness World Records

The World Marathon Challenge is acknowledged by the Guinness World Records. The shortest average time per marathon recorded by a man was 2 hours 45 minutes and 57 seconds, set by American Michael Wardian. Meanwhile the fastest woman was Kristina Schou from Denmark who averaged a marathon time of 3 hours 25 minutes and 57 seconds.

Another American athlete, Kyle Vogt completed all seven in a world record of three days, nine hours and 38 minutes, while the shortest time for a woman was American Becca Pizzi who took six days, seven hours and 58 minutes. Blisters and injury pose the biggest problems for the pair of runners, who have been supplied with several pairs of running shoes each by a sponsor, Asics. The two men, friends since school, have limited marathon running experience, but have cranked up their training schedules to cover around 80km a week.

“There's only two aeroplanes that we will go on, one will be to Antarctica because that's a special type of Russian plane,” said Mr Norriss. “And from then on from Cape Town all the way around, we have a chartered plane. There'll be a few other runners from around the world with us.”

Mr Norris has had a series of adventure travel programmes featured on Emirates flights. He plans to record his experience and produce a short film for each marathon leg.

The pair aim to raise $200,000 for the Sparkle Foundation and the Sovereign Art Foundation, two charities that support underprivileged children around the world.

“The Sovereign Art Foundation in Hong Kong does workshops with kids, using art therapy to help underprivileged children,” said Mr Elliot-Square, 41. “Some have gone through trafficking, violence in the home, are orphans or under-privileged in other ways.

“We want to make a difference for charities that aren't necessarily as well known as some of the mainstream ones. I like to see the money actually getting to the end-user, rather than it being swallowed up by a lot of red tape. Sparkle is a great charity, and they do some amazing work in Africa.”

Air time

The challenge will also have a competitive team element, with the fastest combined marathon times of the top three team scorers, who finish all seven marathons, declared winners. Runners are expected to be in the air for around 68 hours during the week-long event. It will be a particular challenge for Mr Elliot-Square who manages a permanent foot injury.

“I had a rugby accident when I was 21 and severed nerves and ligaments in my left leg,” said Mr Elliot-Square, who advises businesses looking to expand in the GCC. “I still have drop foot, so when I run I have a slightly different style.

“After such long exercises, it can have a knock-on effect so I'm a little bit worried about that. My mind is strong, so I’m sure I'm going to get through this. To set foot on Antarctica is one thing, but to run a marathon there? Not many people can say they've done that.”