Update:RICHARD DONOVAN HAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED HIS YEAR.

Richard Donovan has become the first person in history to run a marathon on all seven continents and North and South Poles, thereby completing a 'Grand Slam' of marathons. He has also become the first person to run seven ultra marathons on seven continents in the same calendar year. Donovan's feats include winning the South Pole Marathon, Antarctica; the Poor Man's Comrade's Marathon, Australia; the Inca Trail Marathon, South America; the Everest Challenge Marathon and the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race, Asia; and finishing the Trans 333km, Africa; and US National 24 hr Championships, North America. He also became the first person to run a marathon at the North Pole and concluded his year by running 35 miles through the Irish countryside and finishing in native Galway city, Ireland.

What's this all about?

	Sponsorship Card

In 2002, Richard Donovan is embarking on a journey spanning the seven continents of the world. He will attempt some of the most gruelling and trying ultramarathon races on earth, one on each continent. He hopes to be the first person ever to run seven ultramarathons on seven continents in the same calendar year and will cover 1000km of racing in the process. Having run a marathon at both the North and South Poles, Richard also hopes to complete the first ever 'Grand Slam' -- a marathon or longer on all seven continents and at the North Pole (Arctic Ocean).

His races not only cover vast distances of more than 200 miles, but they will take place in a variety of extreme climatic conditions and circumstances: from the mind-numbing cold of the South Pole to the scorching heat of the Sahara Desert; from the sea level of native coastal Ireland to the altitude heights of the Andes and Himalayan mountains; and from baking sand dunes to snow and ice.

You can follow Richard's progress on this website. Over the course of the year, we'll update the various sections with images and progress reports of his races.

Richard is running the races to raise money for the GSPCA's animal sanctuary in the West of Ireland and for GOAL's street children's project in Calcutta. If you are interested in donating monies to these charities, click on the make a donation links available throughout the site. Alternatively, you can obtain sponsorship cards from GOAL or the GSPCA and sell lines to your friends, work colleagues and neigbours. A sample card is shown above. All donations will be divided evenly between the two charities.

The races are dedicated to his mother Mary who died in June 2000 and his father Paul who died in April 1998.

* Please note: An ultramarathon is a race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles.