Ryan Hall‘s elite marathon career ended after a series of withdrawals and DNFs, which made his accomplishment this past week all the more impressive.
Hall, the fastest American ever over 26.2 miles, completed a marathon in Antarctica on Monday (with a wind chill falling to minus-22 degrees Farenheit, according to organizers).
The next day, he ran a marathon in Chile. The next day, he ran a marathon in Miami. Then in Madrid. Then Morocco. Then Dubai. Finally, on the seventh day, in Sydney.
Hall was one of 22 men and nine women to complete the World Marathon Challenge — an annual event starting in 2015 composed of seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.