Bay Area women complete 7 international marathons in 7 days

DANVILLE, Calif. - Two women from the Bay Area just finished the Great World Race, a series of marathons in all seven continents in seven consecutive days.

Natalia Lazarus, 43, of Danville, decided to run the race late last year.

"I love to run. It's like sort of my love language. And I also love a big challenge," she said.

In November, the Danville mom of teenagers joined 60 athletes from all over the globe, for the Great World Race, returning home last week after the adventure of a lifetime.

"I had to take a wheelchair from the airplane to my Uber in San Francisco," said Lazarus.

The first stop was Cape Town, South Africa.

"We started in Cape Town and then at 4 p.m. that same afternoon, we flew to Antarctica and ran at midnight in Antarctica. So the first two marathons were in the first twenty-four hours," said Lazarus.

Then, a private charter flight took them to Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and finally finishing in Miami.

"We were like in a time warp for the entire seven days," said Lazarus.

Between races, the runners would receive rehab and physical therapy before climbing on the charter to go to the next continent.

"Maybe we got in, you know, three to five hours of sleep, but like at least we got off our feet," she said.

It costs about $50,000 for each runner, not including travel insurance and physical therapy. Lazarus said she had help from community sponsors.

The long-time runner took all year to train – spending about 20 hours a week preparing her body.

She said it wasn’t about finishing first – it was about proving she could do it.

"My goal was just to finish every marathon and to have fun doing it, to take in the sights of all these amazing places we got to go," said Lazarus.

For Ashleigh Tran from San Francisco, who decided to run the race five weeks before it started, it was a source of healing after getting out of an abusive relationship.

"There was like a narrative about me and my body that was formed without my consent, and so doing the great world race for me was about creating a narrative for what I wanted myself and my body to be known for and like reclaiming that," said Tran.

Tran said she won second overall woman finisher.

"It was the experience of my life, and I would do it every year if I could," said Tran.

Lazarus said she thought about quitting, but on the hard days, she remained inspired by her fellow marathoners.

"When you're having a tough moment, a tough day, a tough mile, a tough race, like you just have to look to your left and look to your right. You're just around the most incredible inspirational people," said Lazarus.

She said she hopes others take on their own version of the Great World Race and feel inspired to do whatever they set their minds to.