Sports Backers announce new ‘7 Marathons 7 Continents’ virtual running event to launch on November 7

October 2, 2020

Registration now open for virtual marathon and half marathon challenge

RICHMOND, VA – Fresh off of providing opportunities for participants to virtually conquer the United States and Europe in running events, Sports Backers is now going trans-continental with their newest event, ‘7 Marathons 7 Continents,’ which launches on November 7 and ends on January 31, 2021.

During the event, individuals will run either a marathon or half marathon on each of the seven continents, tracking their runs, logging their miles, and watching their interactive tracker move across the globe. Participants can run their full or half marathon all at once or accumulate the equivalent miles over multiple runs to complete a race on each continent. After finishing 26.2 miles or 13.1 miles on one continent, participants will move on to the next one, totaling either 183.4 miles or 91.7 miles to complete the ‘7 Marathons 7 Continents’ journey.

Registration is now open at www.sportsbackers.org, and the $60 fee includes a long-sleeved participant shirt, finisher’s medal, virtual finisher’s badge, seven pre-mapped marathon or half marathon courses on seven continents, virtual leaderboard, and online map updates as each runner completes another course. The event will also include a virtual travel experience for each participant with fun facts, cultural insights, and stunning imagery of notable attractions along each course.

“We know people are still seeking big challenges and innovative approaches to virtual events, and we’re excited to launch ‘7 Marathons 7 Continents’ to provide more opportunities for active living over the next few months,” said Megan Schultz, Chief Operating Office for Sports Backers. “We hope this will be a great way for participants to experience parts of the world they’ve always dreamed of visiting for a marathon or half marathon adventure and allow them to achieve some running milestones.”

The marathon and half marathon courses are pre-selected on each continent, and will be run in the following order:

1. North America: Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
2. South America: Tancac to Machu Picchu along the Inca Trail in Peru
3. Europe: Marathon to Athens in Greece
4. Asia: Kyoto, Japan
5. Australia: Sydney
6. Africa: Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania
7. Antarctica: McMurdo Station on Ross Island

‘7 Marathons 7 Continents‘ officially kicks off on Saturday, November 7, in conjunction with the Richmond Marathon, Richmond Half Marathon, and Allianz Partners 8k, and participants can use those races as miles towards their North American race. Awards will be given to the first male and female participants to finish all seven courses on the seven continents. After the conclusion of the event on January 31, Sports Backers will also recognize the male and female with the fastest cumulative time to complete all seven continents. To be eligible for the award categories, runners must be prepared to validate each of their logged miles through a tracking device or GPS-enabled app.

During ‘7 Marathons 7 Continents,’ experienced event organizers from Sports Backers will be with participants every step of the way, offering event updates, course highlights, and results tracking at the end of each day. Full event details, including schedules and course maps, can be found at https://www.sportsbackers.org/events/7-marathons-7-continents/.

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About Sports Backers
With a key message of Let’s Go, RVA, the mission of Sports Backers is to inspire people from all corners of our community to live actively. A non-profit organization, Sports Backers is dedicated to producing nationally recognized quality sporting events and programs that motivate residents and visitors alike to be more active, supporting youth running and fitness programs, and advocating for safe and connected networks of bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Learn more at www.sportsbackers.org.