As if running marathons on six continents wasn’t enough, he had to challenge all seven. Mark Vincent, general manager of Timberline Lodge, returned in March with all seven continents under his belt. Antarctica was the finale.

“The day of the race started out calm, no wind, then halfway through the wind came up and it
started snowing sideways,” Vincent told The Mountain Times. “The terrain was
horrible, mostly hills, large rocks, mud, snow and ice. It’s the kind of
marathon you do only once.”

In 2007 Vincent signed up for the New York City Marathon after his brother-
in-law suffered a sudden heart attack.

“That was my proverbial wake-up call to get in better shape and focus more
on my health,” he said.

Prior to the New York City event, Vincent’s running accomplishments included
jogging on the beach and as a sprinter in high school. He had never taken on
a marathon.

In New York he heard runners talking about competing on every continent. He
was intrigued because of his passion for world travel. Later that year
Timberline’s Area Operator Jeff Kohnstamm challenged his directors to set a
personal goal for themselves.

“It was then that this goal became clear to me,” Vincent said. “I blurted out
that I was going to run a marathon on each of the world’s seven continents.”
He strapped on his running shoes and successfully completed marathons in
Rome, Marrakesh, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and Sydney.

Only one remained.

Mark joined a 10-day boat excursion and sailed from Tierra del Fuego across
the Drake Passage to the Antarctic. On March 9, about 70 runners started the
marathon under sunny skies.

“There were runners from all over the world,” Vincent said. “They were a
great group, coming from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Poland, all over
Europe and South America.”

Not all were able to finish as the weather turned around, but Vincent had a
promise to keep. He admitted it was the most difficult marathon, but also the
most interesting and rewarding.

The crowd kept him going: thousands of possibly perplexed penguins cheered
him on.

Now that he’s joined the elite “7 Continent Finishers Club” he may set his
sights slightly lower, but the world is still out there.

“I’m not sure what’s next,” he said. “Probably half marathons. But there’s this
interesting country, a kingdom actually, that holds a marathon. It’s Bhutan.
Supposedly it’s the happiest country in the world.”

If running makes a person happy, Bhutan is a natural for Vincent.