A British man, Nick Butter has set a world record by becoming
the first human to run 196 marathons in 193 UN-recognized countries plus 3 in
designated territories.
Mr. Butter, 30 set the Guinness world record on November 10
after running the Athens Classic Marathon.
The former banker from Dorset in the south of England, ran
his first marathon at the age of 11. He later competed at a high level while
keeping his finance job. But eventually quit his day job to concentrate fully
on running.
According to Mr. Butter, he was inspired to run the 196-country marathon after meeting a man, Kevin Webber
who would later become his friend while running a race in the Sahara Desert.
He was moved after learning that Kevin was diagnosed with
prostate cancer and has barely two years to live.
“About four years ago I was participating in the week-long Marathon des Sables and met a very special man called Kevin Webber,” Nick explained to “Thesportsman” an online fitness portal.
“He was 49 years old at the time and so overly happy, overly bubbly almost to the point – and I’ve said it to his face – of being annoying.
“We eventually had a proper conversation and he dropped the bombshell that he had terminal prostate cancer and had been given as little as two years to live.
“Kev said a particular set of words to me that stuck in my head and I use it in all of the talks that I do: ‘Don’t wait for a diagnosis.’
“While I completely understand that you can’t just live for
today and you must think about the future, there should still be the
realization that tomorrow may not happen. What Kev said to me obviously really
resonated and so I decided to grab life.”
And of course, the 30-year-old endurance runner really did
grab life. During the course of his 196-country marathon challenge, he had run
in all the known sovereign state on the planet including war zones.
“I was bitten by a dog, I was mugged, I was robbed at knifepoint, I was put in a cell.”
However, according to Butter, he also made plenty good
memories: “I ran with a thousand people in El Salvador, I ran around erupting
volcanoes, completed marathons along beaches on unspoiled, scenic Pacific
islands and have even had to run an entire marathon up and down an airport
runway.”
The adventure – which saw him visit 193 countries recognized
by the UN and three that are not – took 674 days (22 months) to complete. He averaged
two marathons per week, took 455 flights, used 10 passports, worn out 15 pairs
of running shoes and had 9 food poisoning.
Butter, said his goal running the marathon was to create
awareness for prostate cancer and to rise money for the Prostate Cancer UK.
So far Butter has raised £70,000 of his targeted £250,000 for the prostate cancer charity.
