The Seven Continents Club

The Seven Continents Club was created to celebrate the achievements of athletes, specifically long distance runners, who have run a marathon on all seven continents.

Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America.

Members exemplify the spirit of adventure, love to explore the world and are dedicated to pursuing the sport of marathon running in a global context by pushing themselves in different environments.

In 1995 the inaugural Antarctica Marathon took place in the mostly frozen and barely populated 'Last Continent', making it possible for adventure runners to achieve this unique feat.

According to the official website www.sevencontinentsclub.com more than 390 runners have completed the challenge. This list to date includes six Australian men and three Australian women. Of these, I'm not sure how many, if any, were 'couples'.

In November 2013, 14 year old Winter Vinecki became the youngest member of this exclusive club.

We first heard of The Seven Continents Club when we ran in the Australian Outback Marathon in 2012. Some of our fellow competitors were already members and had also joined the 50 States Marathon Club by completing a full marathon in all 50 states across America.

I find it incredibly inspiring to spend time with such amazing athletes. In my case, I would use the term 'athlete' very loosely. I am very slow and can't say that I even particularly enjoy running at all but I am addicted to the idea of achieving such an ambitious goal.

We decided that if we were really serious about doing this we would select the marathons based upon where we would like to go for an extended holiday. In our eyes these are all really 'destination marathons'.

It might take some time, but I want my name to appear on that membership list.

295.4 Kilometres of Pain

Steve and I are always up for a challenge.

What better than a challenge to run a full marathon on every continent across the globe?

At 42.2km a piece, my calculator confidently tells me that we will cover a total distance of 295.4km. My doubtful mind tells me that it will be 295.4km of absolute pain.

We will run amongst the wildlife of the African savannah.

We will come face-to-face with icebergs, penguins and seals in the Antarctic.

We will take on 5164 steps across the Great Wall of China.

We will run through the iconic streets of London, along the River Thames.

We will make our way through the famous five boroughs of The Big Apple, New York City.

We will tackle the red earth of the Australian outback with Ayers Rock and The Olgas in our sights.

We will weave through the streets of Rio de Janeiro with the ocean to our right, the mountains to our left.

Yes, I think this will be a worthy challenge indeed.

295.4 kilometres of pain.

295.4km filled with unmatched memories of a lifetime.

You can follow our journey here as we blog about our every step towards our attempt to become members of the exclusive Seven Continents Club.