Runners

36 RUNNER’S WORLD JULY 2018### HUMAN RACECHAU SMITH HAS RUNAMARATHON ON EIGHTCONTINENTS.Well, sort of. It depends on how youdefine the land mass.The eighth continent, Zealandia,was confirmed (but not recognised) in2017. That discovery came two weeksandadayafterSmithhadrunsevenmarathons in seven days on sevencontinents to complete the 2017 Triple 7Quest. Smith knew what had to be done.“I’m intrigued by challenges,” she said.“Now I get to do it again – with one moremarathon.” TheTriple8Questwason;which,daunting as it may sound, didn’t phasethis septuagenerian marathoner. WhenSmith completed her journey last year,she had downtime on the way back fromAntarctica, and ran an eighth marathonin Chile just for fun. That experienceguided her this year. Now a master of theunpack-repack-and-run ritual, she beganher adventure on 23 January, didn’t missanyflights,andevenhadtimetochatwith Russian scientists and share somevino with other Questers – here areher daily chronicles (see her marathonfinish times on the map above). 1. ZealandiaIt was cloudy andrainy at the 7am start,but midway throughthe race, it heated upfast. Very differentfrom the minus-6to plus-2 degreesCelcius I’d trained inback home. After therace, Triple 8 Questfounder Steve Hibbshad sandwiches,sports drink andbiscuits waiting for usas we headed for theairport.2. AustraliaWhen we landed justbefore midnight inPerth, I prepared forthe heat. It turned outto be in the mid-20s``````SMITHDONSALLOFHERMEDALS AT THE END OFHERRACEINANTARCTICA.5AMSTERDAM,NETHERLANDS5:267PUNTASARENAS, CHILE6:176G A R D E N C I T Y ,NEW YORK, USA5:368KING GEORGEISLAND, ANTARCTICA8:57``````MAP CREATED BY FREEPIK; PHOTOGRAPHS: DAN REEVES (NEW YORK); COURTESY CHAU SMITH``````(ANTARCTICA); MARATHON ADVENTURES, LLC/STEVE HIBBS (NEW ZEALAND)AROUNDTHE WORLDIN 8MARATHONSTHE DISCOVERY OF A ‘NEW’CONTINENT INSPIREDTHIS 71-YEAR-OLD TORE-RUN THE WORLDTHIS YEAR.BY ANDREW DAWSON