MUSCATINE, Iowa– 15 years ago, Amy Clove of Muscatine ran, at that time, her first and only marathon. After taking a break from running, Clove took it up again a few years ago. As she resumed her sport, she listened to a book by Ryan Hall, a professional marathoner, which talked about the World Marathon Challenge. A race unlike any other, the World Marathon Challenge takes place over the course of a week with runners completing one marathon each day on a different continent. Though Clove initially did not feel up to it, she could not get it off her mind. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it though, and finally contacted the race director, who assured me people of all running abilities had completed the WMC, so I took the leap and signed up,” she shared. She spent the past two years training for it.
This year’s World Marathon Challenge took people to seven wildly different locations: Novo in Antarctica; Cape Town, South Africa in Africa; Perth in Australia; Dubai, United Arab Emirates in Asia; Fortaleza, Brazil in South America; and Miami, United States in North America. Of all these unique locations, Clove found running in Antarctica the most amazing. “It was thrilling to be in this far corner of the world away from civilization,” she shared: “Running on a vast expanse of ice was exciting and a little intimidating at the same time. The extreme weather conditions (-13° Fahrenheit wind chill with 50 mile per hour gusts) only added to the adventure. I loved it!”
Along with the sheer challenge of running 183.4 miles in a week, the World Marathon Challenge presented the extra difficulties of preparing for the next race while also traveling to distant locations. “There was very little time to recover after each race,” Clove recalled: “We were constantly hauling our luggage through airports and trying to get a few hours of sleep on the plane. Getting enough to eat to fuel all that running was challenging as well.”
Despite all these obstacles, Clove encountered great community among the other runners and found that their support, as well of that of her well wishers at home, kept her motivated to continue the challenge. “We had a fabulous group of runners who stayed positive and looked out for each other,” she remembered. “I know a lot of people were praying for me, and I really felt that.”
Following her completion of the World Marathon Challenge, Clove felt excited and relieved to have finished the race, and inspired to keep following her dreams: “For many years, I thought I would never be able to run again, so to accomplish something like this is still mind blowing to me. My hope is that anyone who hears about my experience will let go of any limits and go after what inspires them. If I was able to do this, then truly anything is possible!”
Though Clove plans to keep running, she plans on participating in more conventional races in the near future. She looks forward to competing closer to home and running in the Kewash half marathon in Washington at the end of April.
