Virginia Pro Mike Wardian Dominates Ultramarathon Challenge on Seven Continents in Seven Days
While many of us struggled to log miles amidst the crippling ice storm that hit the DC region in January, Arlington ultramarathoner Mike Wardian set out to run a 50K ultramarathon on every continent in seven days.
The event, called the World Marathon Challenge, saw runners from around the world take part in the global competition, beginning on January 31 in Antarctica. Racers then flew to South Africa, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Spain, and Brazil before finishing the challenge in Miami, Florida.
Wardian, for his part, placed first in all seven 50K ultramarathon and four of the seven marathons. His net time over the course of all seven races was 26 hours 40 minutes and 16 seconds (avgeraging 3 hours 48 minutes and 37 seconds per race).
This is not the first time Wardian has taken part in the global challenge. In fact, he is the first American male to finish the challenge three times. In 2017, he set a new world record for the fastest cumulative marathon time of 19:21:36 hours, an average marathon time of 2:45:57, to complete the seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. He returned in 2019 to once again take the top spot across all seven races.
And of course, Mike Wardian is no stranger to feats of cardiovascular endurance. In May 2022, he set off from San Francisco, California and made his way across the country, ending in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Averaging 50 miles a day, he ran along Route 50—also known as America’s Loneliest Highway. Nor can we forget his most recent endeavor, the Taco Bell DC 50K, which invited runners to take part in a casual ultramarathon that required stops at eight Virginia and DC Taco Bell locations.
