The Great World Race, live.

Seven marathons, seven continents, one week

The Great World Race is seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. The 2026 edition runs from 15 to 21 November, starting at Wolf's Fang in Antarctica and finishing at South Beach in Miami, and the 2027 edition from 14 to 20 November. The field is limited to 70 runners, who travel together by charter plane between the stops.

The order is fixed: Antarctica at Wolf's Fang, then Cape Town, Perth, Singapore, the Algarve at Faro, Cartagena and Miami. Runners gather in Cape Town a few days before for the race director's briefing and the Antarctic briefings, then fly by private jet to the Antarctic mainland for the first marathon. After returning to Cape Town they fly on by business charter to each of the other stops. Antarctic weather can delay the start, but once the first marathon begins the goal is to go around the world within 168 hours.

Each marathon is a race of its own with an 8 hour limit, measured by AIMS or World Athletics measurers according to the organiser and sanctioned by the national federation. Several courses are short laps: six laps on the Sea Point promenade in Cape Town, eight loops along the Swan River in Perth, six times out and back in Cartagena and six loops on Ocean Drive and the Beachwalk in Miami. A half marathon option exists for runners who prefer the shorter distance.

The winners are the man and the woman with the fastest average time over the seven marathons, and every finisher joins the Global Marathon Club. The organiser is Ice Cap Adventures, led by race director Dr David Kelly, a physician and former Irish cross country international.

On Livebib, family and friends can follow a runner through each of the seven marathons, with position on the course, distance covered and a finish estimate. Each marathon has its own page below, with its date, course and what the organiser has published so far.