Home > Runs & Races

Ryan Hall’s next retirement challenge involves a whole lot of running

American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall announced this week that he will be running the seven-day, world marathon challenge in 2017.

Ryan Hall

The legend of Ryan Hall’s retirement continues to grow as the 33-year-old this week announced that he will be running the world marathon challenge in 2017. The challenge, which involves running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, takes place next January.

During the American half-marathon record holder’s retirement, he has put on 40 pounds of muscle, gone mountain climbing in the Alps, raced Beat the Sun in France, and next plans to run the seven-day challenge.

Hall announced his retirement from competitive running on Jan. 15 citing low testosterone and fatigue but has maintained a high-level of fitness ever since. He continues to run, occasionally races and supplements his training with weights. He wants to reach a 300-pound bench press.

The world marathon challenge combines marathon results from seven races run across the world consecutively for a cumulative time. A private marathon is set up on each continent for runners and they are flown out immediately after finishing to their next destination. Participants fly more than 35,000 kilometres and run 295 kilometres over the course of a week.

The WMC begins (tentatively) in Antarctica and finishes in Australia.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Hall said that he will be running the world marathon challenge for the organization Dream Centre. “I’m not going to be in 2:10 shape,” he said. “I am going to train for it and I will be prepared for it. I want to run something decent.”

RELATED: Pro and amateur runners team up to race the sunset on French mountains.

The Kirkland, Wash.-born runner is the American record holder in the half-marathon (59:43) and the fastest ever American in the marathon (2:04:58). His marathon time is not considered an official record, however, as he set it at the Boston marathon, which is ineligible for records because it’s point-to-point and net downhill.

RELATED: Running 295K on seven continents in 168 hours: New challenge for Patrick Charlebois.

Judging by his weekly mileage that he’s been maintaining during retirement, he should be in pretty good shape. He raced at the Asics Beat the Sun relay in France last month alongside Deena Kastor and amateur runners as part of Team Americas. Global squads were assembled to run around Mont Blanc before the sun set on the year’s longest day.

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The best trainers in Canada under $150

We curated the best performance trainers under $150 to meet your 2024 running goals, while staying on budget