John Gluckman

Runner, Climber, Adventurer

Marathons across the continents

I am the only person on official records to have both climbed the highest mountain on every continent and finished a marathon on every continent. I've also recently competed in the masters games, in both summer and winter events. Below is a list of the marathons run on all continents, five of which were run after my battle with cancer.

Mt Kinabalu

In August 1990 I took part in the Mount Kinabalu climbathon. The race is twenty five kilometres in length and it starts and finishes at park headquarters. The midway point in the race is the summit of Mount Kinabalu It is 4,100 metres [13,455 feet high]. Mount Kinabalu is the highest point, both on the island of Borneo and in Malaysia. I finished the race in 21st place out of about 150 runners in 4 hours and 42 minutes.

Everest

In November 1997 I competed in the Everest marathon which is the highest marathon in the world. It is over rough trails and it starts at Gorak Shep. Gorak Shep is about eight Kilometres from Everest Base camp. The highest point in the race is 5,200 metres [17,000 feet]. It finishes at Namche Bazaar which is the largest village in the Solu Khumbu [Everest rergion ]. I finished the race in 50th place out of 88 runners in 8 hours and 12 minutes. The run was organized by Bufo Ventures, an English company.

Antartic Marathon

In March 2002 I ran in the Antarctic marathon. The race was organized by Marathon Tours, an American company. The race is run on King George Island which lies just off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsular. The race starts and finishes at the Russian base Bellingshausen. I finished in 31st place out of 85 runners in a time of 5 hours and 37 minutes.

The final five

The following five marathons were all run after I had had my prostate glands removed.

  1. In July 2003 I ran in the Gold Coast Marathon in Surfer's Paradise, Queensland, Australia. I finished the race in 3 hours and 59 minutes.
  2. In October 2003 I ran in the Frankfurt Marathon finishing in 4 hours and minutes.
  3. In Novemher 2003 ran in the New York Marathon finishing in 4 hours and 23 minutes.
  4. In March 2004 I ran in the Kilimanjaro Marathon. It starts and finishes in the city of Moshi in Tanzania. I finished in 5 hours and 31 minutes.
  5. In April 2004 I ran in the Santiago Marathon in Chile. I finished the race in 4 hours and 33 minutes. In doing so I had reached my goal of completing a marathon on all seven continents.