WATCH LIVE: 7-day treadmill WR attempt is already 3 days in
British ultrarunner Jamie McDonald is almost halfway through a 7-day treadmill running world record attempt
If you find treadmill running dull, just imagine running three marathons a day for seven days, on a treadmill. That’s what British ultrarunner and motivational speaker Jamie McDonald is already more than three days into as he attempts to break the 7-day world distance record for treadmill running. McDonald started his run, which is being livestreamed on Youtube, on Monday, and the record he’s trying to break is an astounding 517 miles (827.2K), set by Marcio Villar of Brazil in 2015.
Watch live as @MrJamieMcDonald attempts to break the world record for the greatest distance on a treadmill in 7 days. Current record is 832km, or about 3 marathons a day. Donate to help sick kids here: https://t.co/039uLxAeMa https://t.co/PoWfQKyYwU
— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) April 29, 2019
It works out to almost three marathons a day for seven days. McDonald was very ill as a child, with a rare disease called syringomyelia that had him in and out of hospitals for the first nine years of his life. He eventually recovered, regained some mobility and gradually became more active, eventually taking up running.
As an adult, he was so grateful to the hospitals where he received treatment that he has mounted a steady stream of quests and records to raise funds for them. Most recently, he ran across the United States, arriving in his hometown’s namesake of Gloucester, Mass. on March 27, stopping to visit children’s hospitals throughout his run.
Great support for a proud Gloucester boy from @gloucesterrugby with @CharlieSharples, @BenjiVellacott9 and @tc_savage turning up to the tent with a great donation from a player whip-round. If you haven’t been down to the tent yet, please do!
1/3 pic.twitter.com/omh9izOqHc
— Adventureman (@MrJamieMcDonald) May 2, 2019
McDonald’s past adventures include cycling from Bangkok to his home in Gloucester, UK in 2012, breaking the world record for riding a stationary bike (268 hours, or more than 11 days), running across Canada unassisted in 2014 to benefit Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (while wearing a superhero costume). McDonald has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various hospitals while pursuing these quests. His charity is the Superhero Foundation. He has also recently published a book, Adventureman: Anyone Can Be a Superhero.
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McDonald’s current adventure is scheduled to end on Monday, May 6.
Here’s the link to make a donation.