'Hardest thing I've ever done': Man runs 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents

Reg Willick says it was the toughest thing he's ever done.

On Nov. 21, 2024, the marathon runner, 62, from Spiritwood, Sask., finished 19th among the 60 competitors who took part in the Great World Race: seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. 

His goal was simple: finish every race uninjured in a reasonable time and be ready for the next.

Willick says he truly became interested in long-distance running after taking part in his first marathon in Regina 12 years ago. 

"I ended up running all six major marathons, which are held in Boston, Berlin, Tokyo, London, Chicago and New York," he says.

Then, he was looking for another challenge and found The Great World Race.

Willick, who now lives in Vancouver after retiring, says its description piqued his interest. 

"Once I gave my deposit a year ago I was pretty well committed," he said. "It was kind of one of those things you think about and then once you commit and start paying money to it and start training, there's no turning back." 

Willick says he practised slow running, steady running and hard running leading up to the marathons. His training regimen was more complex knowing there would be no rest-and-recovery periods between events. 

The first marathon took him to Antarctica, which he says was his favourite place to run despite the fact it was so cold his sweat turned into ice. Being from Saskatchewan and playing hockey when he was young really helped, he says. 

"It was -15 to -16 F (-26 C), it was sunny and it was just beautiful."

After Antarctica, the runners moved on to races in Cape Town, South Africa; Perth, Australia; and two in Istanbul, Turkey (comprising Europe and Asia) — all of which were warm-ups for "the hardest and the toughest race for the whole 60 runners … Cartagena, Colombia," Wick said.

The weather was 35 C with 91 per cent humidity.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," says Willick.