Irishman runs seven marathons on seven continents in five days

Irish ultra distance runner Richard Donovan running in the Antarctic Photo: PA

Richard Donovan, 42, from Galway in the west of Ireland, began his challenge in numbing sub-zero temperatures in Antarctica on January 31 and finished in Sydney just five days, nine hours and eight minutes later.

"What he did was staggering, quite remarkable," John O'Shea, founder and chief executive of third world charity Goal, told AFP, adding that the money raised would help the charity's work in Sudan's Darfur region.

"It is extraordinary given the conditions and the time scale involved. I can't believe he managed it. I am in awe of what he achieved to bring attention to the tragedy of Dafur and to alleviate the suffering there.

After starting in the Antarctic, Mr Donovan got on a plane to South Africa and completed a marathon in Cape Town. He then flew to Dubai and ran another one, completing three marathons in two days.

Braving snow storms that shut down London on Monday, Mr Donovan completed his fourth marathon there before going to Toronto in Canada for his fifth. Then it was on to Chile for a Santiago marathon and finally to Australia.

Over 129 hours, Mr Donovan endured extreme temperatures and only slept in the economy class seats of airplanes between continents, said Mr O'Shea.

In total he ran 183 miles and flew tens of thousands of miles.

"It brings into focus how little the world does and how much one man does for Dafur. He feels almost as strongly as I do about the lack of an adequate international response in Dafur where 400,000 people have died," Mr O'Shea said.

Goal has been working in Sudan since 1985 and spent about 18 million euros (£15.7 million) there on aid in 2007.

In 2002, Mr Donovan became the first person in the world to run a marathon at both the North and South Poles.

He now organises the northernmost marathon on earth, the North Pole Marathon, and the southernmost marathon on earth, the Antarctic Ice Marathon.

Mr Donovan has won the South Pole Marathon, the Inca Trail Marathon, the Everest Challenge Marathon, the Antarctic 100km and the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race.

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