Chris Edell · 777 World Marathon Challenge

The Challenge

The World Marathon Challenge®

The World Marathon Challenge — the original “777” — is one of the most demanding endurance events on Earth: seven full 26.2-mile marathons, on all seven continents, in seven consecutive days. The clock starts the moment the first marathon begins in Antarctica and doesn’t stop.

Since 2015, only 292 people worldwide have completed the challenge. From January 30–February 5, 2027, I’ll return for the 10th edition, with the goal of completing it for a second time — and becoming one of just 12 people in the world to have done so twice.

Run42.2 km on every continent — from −15°F polar ice to 90°F tropical humidity.

RecoverOn charter flights between continents: sleep, eat and rehydrate at 35,000 feet.

RepeatSeven times in 168 hours, across a dozen time zones, on almost no sleep.

The Route · Jan 30 – Feb 5, 2027

One Lap Around the Planet

Seven starting guns. Seven finish lines. The 2027 route races east from the Antarctic ice to the streets of Miami.

1🇦🇶

Antarctica

Antarctica · Day 1

The clock starts on the ice at Ultima, deep in the polar interior — sub-zero temps, 24-hour daylight, and the loneliest marathon on Earth.

≈ -15°F · Ice & Snow

2🇿🇦

Cape Town

Africa · Day 2

Off the ice and straight into summer beneath Table Mountain — a 90°F+ temperature swing in under 24 hours.

≈ 75°F · Coastal Summer

3🇦🇺

Perth

Australia · Day 3

Marathon three under the Western Australian sun, with the body now running on airplane sleep and stubbornness.

≈ 85°F · Dry Heat

4🇦🇪

Dubai

Asia · Day 4

Halfway. 26.2 miles through the desert night skyline — usually run in the small hours between flights.

≈ 70°F · Desert Night

5🇪🇸

Madrid

Europe · Day 5

Winter returns. Marathon five in the European cold, where the 777 is famously won or lost in the mind.

≈ 45°F · Winter Chill

6🇧🇷

Fortaleza

South America · Day 6

Across the Atlantic to the Brazilian coast — equatorial heat and humidity on legs that have already covered 131 miles.

≈ 88°F · Tropical Humidity

7🇺🇸

Miami

North America · Day 7

The final 26.2. Home soil, one last starting gun, and a finish line seven continents in the making.

≈ 80°F · The Finish

🏁

183.4 Miles

in 168 Hours

Seven start lines, seven finish lines, one lap around the planet.

All seven continents

About Chris

Who's Crazy Enough to Do This?

Chris Edell is a San Francisco-based entrepreneur, endurance athlete, music producer, husband, and father of two.

Endurance sports have been a major part of Chris’s life for over a decade. To date, he has completed 28 endurance events, which includes marathons, Ironman triathlons, ultramarathons, and the 2025 World Marathon Challenge.

In 2027, Chris is returning to the World Marathon Challenge with a purpose beyond the finish line: raising enough to provide 100,000 meals for the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and helping fight food insecurity as the rising cost of living puts increasing pressure on families throughout our communities.

Outside of running, Chris built a career spanning management consulting and digital health entrepreneurship. Today, he produces and releases electronic music as outer | sunset, with releases signed to Enormous Tunes, the Swiss melodic house label under Sirup Music GmbH. Above all, he is a husband and father who believes that taking on extraordinary challenges can be an opportunity to make a meaningful difference for others as well as improve oneself.

📍 San Francisco, CA

17Marathons Finished

3Ultramarathons Finished

8140.6s and 70.3s

14Running Years

Why I Run

Running for San Francisco-Marin Food Bank

For this upcoming 777, I’m running in honor of my mother.

She grew up in San Francisco as the daughter of Chinese immigrants in a family with very limited financial means, and she experienced food insecurity firsthand. Through an extraordinary work ethic and determination to create a different life for herself, she rose from a difficult childhood to become a tenured professor—and ultimately created the secure, stable home environment for her three children that she did not always have growing up.

Her story is a reminder of how much a person’s circumstances can change when they have opportunity, stability, and the support they need. It’s one of the reasons the mission of the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank feels so personal to me.

As I take on the 777, I’m running on behalf of families that share something many of us can too easily take for granted: a healthy, delicious meal around the table, whether it’s an ordinary weeknight or a special occasion worth celebrating.

The Cause

San Francisco-Marin Food Bank

Every dollar will have a purpose: helping provide 100,000 meals through the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank for families facing food insecurity.

$7.7715 meals

$77.77~150 meals

$777.77~1,500 meals

$7,777.77~15,000 meals

Sponsors & Partners

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In Pictures

The Road So Far

Follow the Journey

Every Mile, Documented

From early-morning training blocks to the ice in Antarctica — follow along, send encouragement, or come run a mile.

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