Chicago Woman Runs 7 Marathons on 7 Continents in 7 Days

Chicago lawyer Sarah Ames, 47, just returned from her trip around the world, during which she ran seven marathons. Her journey began Jan. 23 with a marathon in Antarctica. She then ran marathons in Punta Arena, Chile; Miami; Madrid; Marrakech; Dubai; and Sydney. She flew 23,612 miles and spent 59 hours in the air.

She raised money for Hamlin Fistula, an international organization in Ethiopia dedicated to the treatment, care and prevention of childbirth injuries.

Before her seven-marathon effort, Ames shared her story with Women’s Running and how she got hooked on running marathons.

You know, I’m an absolute amateur runner. I ran one marathon in 1998. That was my first one, and then really hadn’t planned on running more. But I wanted to go to Antarctica so in 2002 I discovered there was a marathon there, and that’s why I went- more for the trip than for the run. It was such a fun group, and they were so enthusiastic, so I kind of got infected.

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