A Texas man just completed a rare running feat.
Last month, Mike Rogers brought home seven heavy medals to Lubbock, Texas, after finishing The Great World Race,
“They all think I'm crazy. My friends, my family, my church, everyone thinks I'm insane,” Rogers, 71, told KCBD in a Wednesday, Dec. 4, interview.
According to its website, The Great World Raceorganized by Ice Cap Adventures Ltd., consists of runners completing seven marathons across seven continents in one week. The race kicks off with the first marathon at Wolf's Fang runway in Antarctica in below-freezing temperatures. Runners then complete races in Cape Town, South Africa; Perth, Australia; Istanbul, Turkey; and Cartagena, Colombia, before ending in Miami, USA.
“So, I got some blisters after that and some black toenails, but that's OK. I had a good time,” Rogers said of running into the middle of the night in freezing rain to complete one marathon.
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The USA FIT Lubbock run club member stopped running marathons after finishing high school but picked it back up again in his 50s after encouragement from a friend.
As for The Great World Race, Rogers told KCBD that he ran “about 15 to 20 miles a day, four to five times a week” to train.
“I had a great time. I met a lot of wonderful people,” Rogers said. “And we hopefully raised some money for a lot of charities and it was a lot of fun.”
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Not only does Rogers have support from his wife — who thought “this was the penultimate” for the runner before he retired — but his Lubbock community always cheers him on, even greeting “More Miles Mike,” as he's known, at the airport when he returned home.
“It was wonderful to have that kind of support and those kind of prayers. I needed their prayers to carry me through some of those tough moments during the runs,” Rogers said of his friends and family.
Rogers also credits running for helping him reverse his pre-diabetes, as well as controlling his blood pressure and asthma. “As long as I'm running, I feel great,” he said.
The 71-year-old was one of only 55 people to complete the multi-continent marathons, finishing fourth in the overall men's half marathon standings with a cumulative time of 26:46:07.
While the annual Great World Race is certainly not for everyone, Rogers thinks it's something most can do “with a little determination.”
“You don't have to do it fast. You can do it at an easier pace,” he told KCBD. “I know people that can walk 26 miles. You just have to be patient.”