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Check out Mike Wardian’s Fortnite dances at World Marathon Challenge

Ultrarunner Mike Wardian has won all of the World Marathon Challenge marathons, performing a dance from the video game Fortnite for his kids after each one

February 7, 2019
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Mike Wardian of Arlington, Virginia, who won all seven of the World Marathon Challenge marathons, which took place on seven continents over the last seven days, finished the challenge with an astonishing five out of seven sub-3 marathons.

Wardian and his two sons have a tradition: he performs a different dance from Fortnite (the popular video game) after each of his races. Another participant filmed each dance for Wardian’s family back home, and his wife Jennifer tweeted them out each day. The boys was there to dance with him after the final marathon in Miami last night. (We’ve included the tweets below.)

RELATED: Mike Wardian and Susannah Gill win World Marathon Challenge

 

We reached Wardian, who was already back home in D.C., by text message this morning. About his kids’ proficiency at Fortnite, he said, “They are great. Hope they go pro. I am a Noob.”

Probably the best-known Fortnite dance is the Floss, but it requires some co-ordination, and we did not see Wardian flossing during the challenge. We speculated about whether co-ordination might be lacking after running seven fast marathons in a week, but Wardian told us he did the Floss already at last year’s Coastal Challenge, a 236K, multi-stage trail race in Costa Rica. (He finished third.)

 

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The World Marathon Challenge started on January 31 with the first marathon in Novo, Antarctica, which Wardian won in 3:16:43. The 40-participant group moved on by chartered plane to run marathons in Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Madrid, Santiago and Miami over the next six days. Wardian finished first in all of them, and all 40 participants finished all of the daily marathons within the allotted time of seven days.

Wardian also participated in the 2017 challenge, which he won, with an average finishing time of 2:45, setting a world record. He is sponsored by Hoka.

Check out Wardian’s Strava, here.

Mike Wardian on Day 5 of the 2019 World Marathon Challenge, in Madrid. Photo: WMC/Facebook

Here’s a selection of tweets featuring Wardian’s Fortnite dances, his sons Pierce and Grant’s delighted reaction upon seeing the video of Day 5’s dance, and the three of them dancing together after the final marathon yesterday in Miami.

RELATED: Mike Wardian averages 2:45 for 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents

 

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