AN IRISH “ultra runner” says a bottle of beer helped him become the only man on the planet to run seven marathons on seven continents in less than five days.
With a time of four days, 22 hours and three minutes, Galway man Richard Donovan broke his own record on completion of his final run in Sydney.
The 45-year-old admitted that the sleep deprivation, running and travelling through different time zones and temperatures had taken their toll on his body.
“I was absolutely wrecked. I wasn’t even able to keep down water,” he said. “We came to desperate measures in Sydney and I chanced a beer. I had one bottle of Heineken during the race, for some carbs, and one at the end of it. It was the first time something stayed down in days.” The father of one began his epic quest in the extremes of Antarctica last Wednesday, running the first 26-mile leg in minus 20 degrees at the Russian Novo science base.
His round-the-world marathon took him from Antarctica to Cape Town, South Africa; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Orlando, US; London, UK; Hong Kong and finally Sydney. – (PA)