Running Marathons Around The World

Dec. 18, 2009 - PRLog -- Australian, Tristan Miller 32, plans to be the first person to run 52 marathons around the globe in 52 weeks. This is the first time anyone has attempted such a challenge.

Miller will travel to at least 42 countries, marking up more than 260,000 kilometres in the air and many kilometres on the run. He also needs to run up to 45 kilometres a week in training.

On the 1st of January he will undertake the first 42 kilometre road-pounding of his epic journey in Zurich, Switzerland, starting at midnight. He will also participate in the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, as well as races in such widely diverse countries and climates as Mumbai, Canary Islands, South Africa, Slovakia, Italy, Egypt, Morocco, Siberia, Dubai, Northern Ireland, Cuba and the Cayman Islands.

He hopes to have 100 fellow runners join him in his home city of Melbourne, where he will stage his final marathon.

The $150,000 trip will cost him his life savings – including his car and most of his possessions, as well as the sale of his St Kilda apartment. Miller is hoping to attract sponsors and is determined to raise $100,000 for UNICEF as well.

Miller says that his friends and family all have the same reaction. "You're just nuts. Why would you bother?” His reply is "I just want to do something different and to see if I can."

As an IT specialist, Miller only began amateur running five years ago, as a way of coping with a broken marriage. He discovered that running long distances gave him a sense of achievement and the courage to try other things he never dreamed he could do, such as taking off on an impulse, to explore exotic locations.

Miller was made redundant at Google, as a victim of the financial crisis, when the Melbourne office was shut down in April. This thrust him to putting his body to the ultimate challenge.

To date, he has only completed five registered marathons, including the Canberra and Melbourne events twice each, plus the 87-kilometre torture-test marathon Comrades in Durban, South Africa.

Despite the temptation of exotic cuisines Miller will arrange all his own meals, so there is no danger of food poisoning, or stomach upsets. Miller has only a backing crew of one, his best mate Darren Foss.

Injuries are a very real threat, with "runner's knee" already creating a problem. Dr Dan Dwyer, sports scientist, affirms, Miller faces the real risk of long-term damage to joints and bones, or a chronically suppressed immune system.”

There are only two other people who have completed 50 marathons in a year, as far as Miller knows, but all in the same country.


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