Seven Continents Club

A few weeks ago, I ran my 7th continent marathon- Danang Marathon, in Vietnam. Going back through each one of these races to document the culmination of them has brought forward a lot of memories – and most of them are about the people I spent time with, not about the race itself.

When I started running long distances, back in 2008-2009, it was a very personal activity. I didn’t want to run with anyone, because I was too embarrassed at how slow I (thought that I) was. I didn’t want to tell anyone about what I was doing, because then I would have to explain why I was so slow and why I was doing this – and I didn’t have reasons for either. I was also afraid that if I talked about running, I would somehow convince myself to not run anymore. My running was like a soap bubble – if you poke it too much, it pops.

My first marathon was in 2009. Last week, Danang, 15 years later, was my 97th marathon. If I am honest with myself, Danang was a bit of a letdown – mainly because I went there by myself, ran by myself, and celebrated by myself. I made some day-of running friends, but because I did this trip mostly solo, it felt more like a “check the box” activity than anything profound. I think that’s why it has taken me so long to write this post.

For me, these days, running is about people. I sign up for races when I know friends will be there running it, or when I will have pacers/crew come with me. I look for opportunities to run miles with my people, have meals with them, and spend time together. When I reflect back on the 7 continents journey, the memories that stand out are the people, the conversations, and the friendships – many of which have endured, and many of which have lapsed, but I still have fond memories of.

Also, many of these trips were more than just the race itself. In particular, Peru, Kenya, and Antarctica were each week-long trips, and when I think about the race, I remember the days on either side of it, where we explored, experienced awe, and learned about the plants, animals, geography, and ourselves and our new friends.

My running is no longer a fragile bubble. It has been through the wringer, has suffered through moves, job changes, breakups, injuries, mental health challenges, COVID, bad weather, and more. it is a resilient part of my life now, and getting to share that with people I care about is one of the best parts of the experience.

When my friends share their running experiences with me, I am right there with them, celebrating or commiserating. When my friends run their longest races or achieve their fastest times, or take on a race they never thought they could do, I sometimes tear up when I’m on the other end of a phone call or text message. Being a part of someone’s journey is such an honor, and I love being able to cheer them on.

So, to everyone who has been a part of this journey, whether at the race or on the virtual sidelines, I am honored and grateful.

In this post, we have:

• A list of the races
• Summary of the journey
• Some highlights of each race
• Meme charts at the end

Here’s the list

• North America: San Francisco Marathon, United States – July 2009
• South America: Inca Trail Marathon, Peru – July 2012
• Australia: Sydney Marathon, Australia – September 2012
• Africa: Lewa Safari Marathon, Kenya – June 2013
• Antarctica: Antarctica Marathon, Antarctica – March 2015
• Europe: The Neujahrsmarathon, Switzerland– December 2018
• Asia: Danang Marathon, Vietnam – March 2024

Overview of the Journey

This journey started when I signed up for the Inca Trail Marathon in Peru, in 2012. My colleague at Google, Madeline, signed up for this race with me, and mentioned that I should consider running a marathon on all seven continents. This was the first I had heard of such a club. In the Google bullpen, other folks heard the conversation. Someone mentioned that the Antarctica Marathon was notoriously the hardest to get into, so, for fun, I signed up for the waitlist and started saving up for it (it isn’t a cheap race). At the time, the wait was up to ten years to get in.

I checked off a lot of countries immediately after that. In 2012, I ran also ran Sydney Marathon in Australia and in 2013, I ran the Lewa Safari Marathon in Kenya. In 2015, I magically got off of the waitlist for Antarctica, and after training for a winter in Philly, ran it in March.

Heading into 2018 holidays, I was last-minute grumpy to not have holiday plans, so I signed up for The Neujahrsmarathon in Zurich, Switzerland, which is a race that takes place at midnight on New Years Eve in Zurich. I had a lot of travel points, which made this easier. While I had run a solo marathon in 2009 in England, the “powers-that-be” don’t count solo runs, so this is the Europe run.

Then there was a long period of no new continents. I knew I would eventually get to Asia, so when work presented the opportunity to travel there, I opportunistically signed up for Danang Marathon in Vietnam.

Reflections on each race

North America: San Francisco Marathon, United States – July 2009

• Overall: This was a fun race – my first ever marathon. I ran it after doing two hard trail ultras in the prior weeks. Didn’t know a lot about running at the time.
• Highlight: Around mile 20, confusion as everyone was struggling on some road hills. I was having a great time and feeling really strong – this was the shortest race I had signed up for to date! And these hills were also the least hilly I had seen in my racing so far.
• Lowlight: When my ex’s mom said “Wow, I can’t believe you ate that whole pint of ice cream!” after the race. Whatever, ma’am – it was delicious, I just ran a marathon, and I have the metabolism of a 21 year old (because … I was 21 a year old).

South America: Inca Trail Marathon, Peru – July 2012

• Overall: Amazing adventure. The race report doesn’t do it justice, because the reality was that it was an entire week of immersion in Peru, and all of those other non-race days were just as memorable, exploring ancient ruins and temples, eating awesome food, and meeting new friends.
• Highlights: Travelling with friends (Hi Madeline and Greg!), and getting to be a part of Eric’s Adventures first marathon adventure there (Hi Eric!). The race finishes in Machu Picchu, which is obviously incredible, and this was before you needed a tour guide to explore it. Also, I met a porter on the trail who didn’t know what Google was – that was fantastic.
• Lowlight: Horrible food poisoning the night before the race. That made the actual race … pretty difficult!

Australia: Sydney Marathon, Australia – September 2012

• Overall: Super fun race through a major city. I was there for work for about three weeks, and this race coincided with that trip.
• Highlight: Running across the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and getting to know some Australia Googlers better (Hi Karen and David!)
• Lowlight: Totally wiping out on the Sydney Harbor Bridge because I was too busy staring at the Sydney Harbor Bridge while running across it. Also, the fact that Sydney is now a Marathon Major but my 2012 race doesn’t count towards the Majors medal!

Africa: Lewa Safari Marathon, Kenya – June 2013

• Overall: A literal Safari. We spent several days in Kenya driving around and seeing elephants and giraffes, meeting people, and exploring the region. We camped out in tents the night before and after the race. Dad came with me on this trip, which was so special. My roommate (Hi Molly!) was awesome – she also shared her horrifying Marathon Des Sables experience and based on this have decided never to run it. This was another Marathon Tours event – I am not sure they still do this race, but they do something in Kenya.
• Highlight: Spending a few weeks travelling with Dad; getting lapped by elite Kenyan runners on the course; seeing a pre-race picture of a lioness next to the “kids 5K” sign; realizing I was more similar to a wildebeest than I would like (slow, tired, and mostly blind since I wasn’t wearing my glasses) and could easily be eaten by said lioness
• Lowlight: I lost my medal for this race sometime in the last ten years, so that’s pretty disappointing

Antarctica: Antarctica Marathon, Antarctica – March 2015

• Overall: No words. Everyone should go to Antarctica if they get a chance. It is one of the last truly wild places in the world. We sailed over from Argentina and spent several days hiking, seeing penguins, whale watching, watching “Antarctic TV” (e.g. glaciers floating by), and kayaking. Marathon Tours organized this event and I highly recommend this trip with them.
• Highlight: The friends we made along the way (Hi Patti and Andrew!). Also, the scenery.
• Lowlight: It was cold. Also, I came in 4th – only 2 minutes from the 3rd place woman – but she ran on Day 1 and they didn’t tell us the results. If I had known I was competitive, I would have run faster instead of stopping to smell the penguins! (Don’t do that – they smell bad)

Europe: The Neujahrsmarathon, Switzerland– December 2018

• Overall: Wonderful race – several loops along a river at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
• Highlight: Fireworks at the start; meeting an expat on the course who I ran with; visiting an excellent sauna the next day; completely paying off my student loans a few hours before the race started
• Lowlight: I fell asleep on a tour bus one of the days due to jetlag. Otherwise, really no negatives!

Asia: Danang Marathon, Vietnam – March 2024

• Overall: First time in Vietnam. Race was well-organized and fun to run.
• Highlight: Meeting new friends (Hi Bjorn, Luis, Vic!); learning that the announcer’s family is from Millbrae (literally the next town over from where I live now); finishing continent number 7
• Lowlight: Completing this milestone alone was a bit of a letdown

Summary statistics

Here are some important charts comparing the races. I specifically did NOT include how much each race cost. I have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” agreement with my bank account on this topic.

That’s it!