More than a race chronicle—it's a front-row seat to some of the feats of resilience will you'll ever read. Author and competitor Ellen Hunter Gans weaves her own remarkable story alongside those of her fellow runners, creating a tapestry of grit, humor, heartbreak, and triumph that spans the globe.
Each race drops you onto a new continent with muscles still tired, the mud still fresh and reaching the finish line all too uncertain. You'll feel the cold bite of Antarctic air, the drizzling rain of Europe and the sun-warmed breeze of South Africa, all while sharing in the laughter and tears that emerge when ordinary people attempt the extraordinary.
Release Date: July 28, 2026
Race alongside Ellen and her fellow competitors through captivating, chapter-by-chapter accounts of every race.
Meet athletes driven by personal redemption, global advocacy, the drive to excel and the simple, stubborn refusal to quit.
Understand what the body and mind go through when pushed to their absolute limit, day after brutal day.
Numerous world records and Ellen's completion as the first woman with EDS to finish the race makes this a landmark achievement in endurance sports history.
The Great World Race: a 183-mile gauntlet that spans the entire globe, pushing human endurance to its outermost edges. Competitors race through the icy winds of Antarctica, the sweltering heat of South America, the buzzing streets of Miami, and beyond—with barely enough time to sleep, recover, or catch their breath before the next starting gun fires.
Each continent brings its own climate, each race its own challenges. Jet lag becomes a competitor. Sleep deprivation is a constant companion. And yet, thousands of miles and a handful of days after it all begins, runners cross the final finish line having done something most humans can scarcely imagine.
Marathons run back-to-back
Continents crossed
Week to finish it all
Total miles of racing
Participants
Finishers
Photos from Mark Conlon
Ellen Hunter Gans is an Ironman triathlete, ultramarathon champion, and 40-time marathon finisher. She completed seven marathons on seven continents in one week, four of them on a leg she thought was injured, which turned out to be a venomous spider bite. That's just who she is.
The Twin Cities-based freelance writer has spent more than 15 years helping major brands craft their most compelling narratives. She holds advanced degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California and brings that same intellectual rigor to everything she writes.
Ellen lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder, and has built a life and athletic career that her diagnosis said couldn't exist. She writes and runs to prove—to herself and to others—that the body's limits and the spirit's limits are rarely the same thing.
Including 7 on 7 continents in 1 week
London School of Economics & USC
Helping major brands find and share their voice