Click a country to read the full marathon report.
My current mission is to run a marathon in every country.
Why? To see as much of the world as possible and push myself whilst doing so.
How? Not entirely sure, just one country at a time.
How long? I started in 2024 and will hopefully complete the challenge in around 10 - 20 years.
I had the idea to run a marathon in every country when I was 23 whilst watching the documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible in my hotel room after a day of lounging in the sun in the Dominican Republic. I thought to myself, if this guy can climb every mountain above 8,000m, surely I can do something impressive too. What could be my 14 peaks?
Then the idea hit me. I could take on 190 something 26 mile ‘peaks’ around the world. Although each marathon would be a much much easier challenge than climbing one of the tallest mountains in the world, I saw it as the right goal for me – something that would be tough but that I would find enjoyment in too, and something that might just be possible.
By the age of 23, I had had quite a few ‘million dollar’ business ideas and knew that the first thing to do was Google it and see if it already exists. I did the same for this idea and so it did. Nick Butter had already done it. However, I was determined to not let this idea end up in the same ‘second person to think of it’ graveyard. Unlike with business ideas, I would not be competing against anyone else making a certain product but instead, be very much on the same team.
Easy – 26 miles and 385 yards (or 42.195 km in new money).
More specifically, to consider a run to be a valid marathon, the following criteria it must be met:
1. The run must be at least 26 miles and 385 yards long
2. I must have propelled myself the whole way with no help from any other person, machine or equipment (walking counts, e.g. cycling doesn't)
3. The entire route must be within the borders (at the time of running) of the single country in context
Due to the timing difficulties and not every country having an official marathon race completely within its borders (e.g. Vatican City), not every marathon will be a race, some (quite a lot I'm guessing) will just be me with my watch for a few hours.
I'm not going for any sort of world record (Nick Butter has rendered that pointless) so I'm really playing by my own rules and will just be honest with myself as I'd only be cheating myself to count one that's a lie.
As always, if it's not on Strava, it didn't happen.
Not so easy. Generally, the UN list of member nations is the guide I am following, but I want to tick off as much of the world as possible. Therefore, Antarctica and Greenland are very much on the table. I will also double up on countries (and more than double in some places, e.g. the U.K.) when the opportunities present themselves. Sadly, we live in an unstable world where conflicts are ongoing, territorial disputes are widespread and borders are often changing. I don’t really have a plan for what to do if a country splits due to a civil war or if one invades another and brings two countries into one. I will only consider the full challenge complete if at the point of my final marathon, I have run in every UN member state that exists at the time I crossed the final finish line. I want to try and run in as many places as I, or others, think of as countries, now or in the past to cover as many bases as possible and see as many places as possible.
There were three very clear limiting factors that I need to balance to be able to progress through the countries:
1. My money
2. My time
3. My body
In essence, I need to find cheap flights or train tickets to countries that allow me to take as little time off work as possible but give me enough time for my body to recover. I also need to consider enjoyment along the way, especially for the trips that Ciara accompanies me on, because maintaining motivation for the whole task will be very difficult if each marathon becomes a miserable affair.
My first real experience running came through an accidental fun run age category win when I was 7 or 8. I didn't even know what age categories were or that I'd won so we just went home and my friend from school ended up taking a picture for the local paper on my behalf. It turns out that just playing football automatically makes you one of the fastest runners when you're young.
Next, I got involved in my primary school local district cross country races. Trent Park set the scene for lots of great races. After a slip on the final hill, I came 11th in year 4. Year 5 and year 6 saw back to back individual and team wins in an era of true Dominance for St. Monica's. Shout out to my friend and first running rival William McArdle with a 12th, 2nd, 2nd making those team wins easy.
I focuseed more on football for the next few years until moving to St Alban's school. There I jumped in to the cross country team fully, along side another friend (not quite rival as he was usually a long way ahead), Tom Fulton. Training alongside the likes of Tom, Jeremy Dempsey and the whole team was fantastic, especially when the coaches were George Harrison and the dynamic duo of Everett and Wilson.
At the University of Bristol I continued to run surrounded by great friends and athletes in UBACCC.It as at Bristol when I first started to consider longer races and signed up to the Lanzarote Ironman 70.3. I also put my name in the London Marathon ballot and thought nothing of it. After some COVID rescheduling and an incredibly lucky first time ballot win, I ended up with two entries lined up a week apart and had to choose to drop one. Sadly, as of April 2026, I've still never been to Lanzarote. However, it still ended up being a massive motivating factor in its own way. I was signed up to do it with my friend and housemate at the time, George Leigh. George tragically died in 2023 and his adventurous nature is the second inspiration for the whole idea and his memory is what keeps me going when the marathons get tough.
My first marathon, London 2021, was great and terrible all in one. As a result of the lack of running in the three weeks leading up to it (due to illness), my legs were incredibly tight from the start line to half way where my IT band went and I had to walk most of the rest of the way. I was aiming for sub-3 and went through half way in 1:29, but took over three more hours to get to the finish line from there. Regardless, the support I had from my family was amazing, it was an amazing day and I'll never forget my sister fighting through the crowds on the side to run along side me cheering me on past big ben as I nearly came to tears from the pain and emotinos.
I had the taste and wanted more. I did Manchester in 2022, London again in 2023 on a charity place and Richmond later that year. All three times I went for sub-3 and all three times I failed. This again made me consider what else I could do with the concept of a marathon and these failures have created a different form of 'success'. Again, as of April 2026, I have not yet done a sub-3 but I still want to some day. From January 2024 I started my different approach to marathon running and have loved (in one way or another) every one, almost sub-3 or just about sub-12.