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have run all over the world , but how many of these continents have you now ticked off ?
MJVR : You get the Seven Continents , which includes Antarctica , but if you do the North Pole as well , I think they call it the Grand Slam . There were some guys in our North Pole Marathon group that achieved that , which was fantastic . I have run on most of the continents , but ironically , the only two I still need to complete that list are Europe and Asia . I ’ ve done marathons in Australasia , Africa , North and South America , Antarctica , and now the North Pole , but it ’ s actually the easier ones to get to that I still need . All in due time , though , because I ’ m not in a rush . I want to try and capture each one for its own uniqueness , because if it just becomes a case of ticking them off a list , I feel you don ’ t experience the moments .
In North America , I ’ ve run Chicago , New York twice and I ’ ve done Boston nine times . I ’ ve also done the Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii , and the Big Sur in California . In South America , I ’ ve done Buenos Aires , and last year I did the Auckland Marathon as well , which was quite a unique experience . It required a long travel , but I was impressed with Auckland . I would love to run Sydney in Australia , but if I can pick another marathon right now , I would love to maybe look at either Berlin or London next , and then Tokyo , to try and get the final one in Asia to complete all the continents .
To be honest , when I ran my first big city marathon 10 years ago in Boston , I never had any aspirations to go for all the majors , but I think now the dream is more of a reality , and it ’ s just a question of trying to plan it properly and to get it into my travelling schedule . The other thing that ’ s special for me is that I have run subthree-hour marathons on all the majors that I ’ ve done , so if I go to Berlin or London , and to Tokyo , I would love to be in that shape ... but that also means I can ’ t leave it too long , as I ’ m entering my mid-50s now . It ’ s becoming hard for me to manage injuries and still try to run fast , so if I want to do it , I must keep going now .
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A well-deserved finish-line hug from the organisers |
SF : Looking ahead , I get what you said about being in no rush to ‘ get ’ the remaining continents , but have you actually got your next few months and next few races already planned ?
MJVR : I ’ ve got Boston next April entered and confirmed and accepted , and that will be number 10 . And then I ’ m most probably going to try and get to Berlin next year , which is in September , because London is just too close to Boston – I think they ’ re
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The Marathon Grand Slam Club is comprised of runners who have completed a marathon distance of 42.2km or longer on each of the seven continents and on the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole Marathon . By August of 2024 , there were 159 * members ( 125 men and 34 women ). There are four South Africans on this list at present : Harry Botha , Angelo Henry , Stephen Pienaar and Eleanor Pienaar – and Mauritz Jansen van Rensburg hopes to add his name to that list in the next year or two , if all goes to plan .
* This number will have increased after the most recent North Pole Marathon , but the website had not been updated yet at the time of writing .
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only a week apart . I don ’ t want to do that double of two marathons in a week , because I think you miss the moments . I want every race I do to be a good memory , not just a race ticked off . Then back home , I finally did my first Comrades last year , after years of always putting it on the back-burner , because of the commitment needed and what Comrades can do to you . From a running point of view , I just wanted to stay in one piece ! That said , I really enjoyed Comades , |
Images : Susan Ragon & courtesy North Pole Marathon |
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The awesome feeling of finishing a marathon on top of the world ! |