The Official 8 Continents Marathon Club

Welcome to The Official 8 Continents Marathon, Half-Marathon & Ultra Club, The 8 Continents Marathon Club and Eight Continents Club.  This is where you can join a group of like minded adventurous runners who enjoy traveling and running.   By registering here, you are joining all Three Clubs.

Rules:  The following rules have been adopted by the Board of Directors of The Official 7 Continents Marathon, 1/2 Marathon & Ultra Club, Inc.TM, The Official 8 Continents Marathon, 1/2 Marathon & Ultra Club, Inc.TM, The 8 Continents Marathon ClubTM, and the Eight Continents ClubTM (hereinafter "The Clubs") for the sole purpose of providing all members a defined, practical guideline for the events/races that will count towards the member's goal of completion of the half-marathon, marathon or ultra marathon distance on each of the 8 continents.  

While The Clubs do recognize many other marathon accomplishments by members, including century milestones, Canadian provinces, countries, etc., the following rules are specific to the 8 events/races members will use to account for completion of Half-Marathon, Marathon or Ultra Marathon distances on each continent. These rules will take effect on 1/1/2013.

1.  RULE CHANGE (effective June 5, 2014).  Members must pay a nominal ONE-TIME registration fee to join The Clubs. 

The fee as of March 1, 2017 has remained $18.  However registration is now via racedirector.com.  The club receives $14.75 from that fee.  The fee covers the cost to host and maintain the website.

2.  The Clubs are not-for-profit corporations registered in the State of Minnesota. 

3. A half-marathon must be the full distance of 13 miles 193 yards (21.98K); a marathon must be the full distance of 26 miles 385 yards (42.195K) and an ultra is defined as any distance greater than the marathon distance.  For a non-certified course to count, the race organization must make a good faith effort to ensure that the course is at least the stated distance.  The event must be announced as a half-marathon, marathon or ultra.   The participant must traverse the entire race course as defined by the organizers.

4. The event shall have an announced race director, race organization and/or running club to supervise and take responsibility for the event, and be available to certify the runner's completion of the distance. It must have had a minimum of 60 days advanced publicity in a running publication, magazine, newspaper, web site or race brochure.  If the race date is less than 60 days from when the event is created, it must be announced at the earliest possible  time.  Verifiable results must be maintained and/or posted to the general public.  Someone who is not running in the event must be available to time it.

5. As of 1/1/2013, the event shall have a minimum of 5 finishers.  For races held prior to 1/1/2013, the rule was if the event had a minimum of 5 starters and 3 finishers, then as long as it meets the other requirements, it shall count.  If a marathon is held simultaneously with a half-marathon, the finisher threshold shall be met as long as there are 5 finishers between the events.  If an ultra and a marathon are being held simultaneously, the combined number of runners may meet this rule.

6. A half-marathon, marathon or ultra-marathon shall be run without interruption except for natural events such as a thunderstorm or other force majeure.  In case of interruption, a race shall be restarted at the first practical and safe opportunity to do so.  If a race is interrupted and the race is forced to move to a different location, it may still count towards completion of the continent upon which it started if: (a) the distance completed for any runners affected by the interruption can be accurately computed, (b) the distance remaining can be accurately measured at the locale where the race is resumed; (c) the runners affected by the interruption complete the remaining distance at the first safe and practical opportunity.  A race temporarily interrupted by a natural event, as described above, can be counted if at least the stated race distance combined is completed between the two venues once the race is resumed, and is allowed by the race director.

7. A stage race/multi-day event will only count as one event unless a participant can register for single stages of the event and at least one day’s stage must include the distance of 13 miles 193 yards (to count as a half-marathon), or 26 miles 385 yards (to count as a full marathon) or further than 26 miles 385 yards (to count as an ultra-marathon) .

8. Completion of at least one 26.2 mile portion of an ultra may be counted as a marathon, if the race director so designates.   Similarly, if permitted by the race director, completion of a minimum distance greater than a marathon in any ultra event may be considered as an ultra.  However, if the race director and race rules do not accept those shorter distances as an event, then it cannot be counted. 



9. Each member shall retain some information to substantiate each event, such as: a finisher's certificate, published event results (www.marathonguide.com, result card, result book, newspaper, etc.), race bib number AND medal (both required for this option).  The bib and medal option will only be accepted for events for which no published results are available.  Members may use the bib and medal option for up to two events, which occurred during or prior to the year 2000. 

10. The event must either start or finish on the continent being counted. A race that has a route that runs into two continents cannot be counted as two continents; it counts as one (e.g., Eurasian Marathon starts in Turkey on the Asian side and finishes in Turkey on the European side, it can only count as Europe or Asia, not both).

11. Guides, ultra distance “handlers”, pacers, and bandits may not count the event if they did not have assigned bib numbers and verifiable finishing results.  One must be a registered participant for the event to count.

12. “Shadow” or “satellite” events will not be accepted.   These are events which are held in conjunction with a regular, organized marathon event, but in a separate location. The race must physically occur on the continent for which it is being counted.

13.  Membership will be granted to those runners who complete a marathon on 3 continents.  Special finisher status will be granted upon verified completion of all 8 Continents.

14. Only Members of The Clubs who complete races on all 8 Continents may elect to purchase a finisher's award.  The finisher's award costs roughly $75 + S/H and looks great on a mantle.  Please contact steve@official7continentsmarathonclub.com for information on purchasing an award.  

15.  Once a member has paid the enrollment fee on-line, they are members for life. 

16.  If the event is not run on or over land (e.g., on ice that is above land that is above sea level) it shall not count as an official race for purposes of this club.

17.  If an event has a history (i.e., 3 or more years of occurrences) of either being measureed inaccurately (there is documented evidence that the course was short), not being run at the designated location (e.g., the race was held on a boat, when it was supposed to be run on land) or forcing its runners to cut short their running distance, for whatever reason, then none of the events shall be counted for purposes of this club.  

18.  If an event doesn't publicly publish all of its event results (i.e., every year) then none of the event's results will be counted for purposes of this club.

19. Races run in New Zealand will only count as Zealandia if they were run after February 17, 2017, or if the runner ran their initial "Oceania" race in New Zealand prior to that date AND then ran a race in Australia after February 17, 2017.  

Guidelines:

1. Both marathons and ultras are counted towards completion of the continents for the Marathon Category. However, if an ultra is used toward completion of your 8 "Marathons" the same ultra race cannot then later be used to complete your 8 "Ultra Marathons."  A race may only be counted toward one continent and one category.  A full marathon may be used toward the Half-Marathon category.  But again, the full marathon cannot also be used toward the Full Marathon Category.  The marathon portion of a full triathlon or Ironman event may be counted as a marathon. 

2. If a member is allowed to start a race early, it is the responsibility of the member to ensure that the race committee corrects that member's time accordingly.  If a race does not allow an early start, the participant taking an unofficial early start (not permitted or recognized by the race director) may be disqualified by the race director and the race cannot be counted towards completion of the continents. An official timer must be present to record the early starters



3. Completion of the circuit will be accomplished when a member has completed a half-marathon, marathon or ultra on each of the 8 continents.  A verification committee will decide if a finisher has completed the circuit of the 8 continents. 

4. When a member has completed the 8 continents he/she needs to email a list of the half-marathon, marathon and/or ultras completed on each continent including: the name of the race, the location of the race, the date completed, and the finishing time to:

Verification Committee

The Official 8 Continents Marathon, Half-Marathon & Ultra ClubTM

The 8 Continents Marathon ClubTM

Eight Continents ClubTM

steve@official7continentsmarathonclub.com (Steve Hibbs, Verification & Membership)

5. Hard copy documentation of the completion of each continent must be sent to the Verification Committee before a finish will be “certified”.  Please retain records as stated in rule (7) above from each of the races and upon completion of the continents, submit a copy of at least one item of proof for each of the 8 continents. Please read the rules carefully and submit any questions you may have to the Verification committee.  If there is a disagreement within the committee, please notify the Board of Directors to help resolve any issues. Certification is not required.  



6. There is no time limit for completion of the circuit.

Will My Run Count?

Below is a short checklist of questions to ask yourself about events which you have run.   If you can answer ‘yes’ to each question, then there is an excellent chance that an event you ran will count towards your 8 Continent goal.  If, after completing this checklist, you still have questions, please contact Steve Hibbs, steve@official7continentsmarathonclub.com.

1- Was the race announced and run as a half-marathon of 13 miles 193 yards, a marathon of 26 miles 385 yards or an ultra if it is further?

2- Did the race have a director, organization and/or running club taking responsibility for the event?

3- Was there at least 60 days advanced publicity of the event in a recognized running web site or publication?  Were people able to register solely and specfically for that one event, or were they required to register for a group of runs (e.g., in a multi-day/stage race).

4- Are the results posted to the public?

5- Were there at least 5 finishers?

6- Was the event completed without interruption?  If it was interrupted, did it satisfy the requirements above?

7- Did the member retain some information to substantiate completion of the event (i.e. results)?

8- Did the event start or finish on the continent being counted?

9- Was the member a registered participant of the event being counted?

Note:  We recognize the White Continent Marathon to be the only officially measured Antarctic Marathon course as measured by a calibrated Oerth/Jones Counter.  However, we will accept “Antarctica” completions from any of the following races: the McMurdo Marathon.   

Examples:

1. If a race starts in one continent and ends in another, it may be counted once for either the continent where it started or where it ended.  If the same event is run on a subsequent year, the race may be counted for the other continent.  (Example: The Eurasian Marathon begins in Asia and ends in Europe and may be counted for either continent.)

2. The Marathon de Sables, which is a multi-day stage race, count as one event because participants are not allowed to register for single day stages. 

3. Running a 10K race four times plus 2.125K does not qualify as a marathon event, neither does running a half-marathon twice.

4. Timed events (8 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour, 48 hour, etc.) can be counted as one race as long as the individual covers at least 26 miles 385 yards, there are lap counters, and verifiable results are maintained and/or posted to the general public.

5. If an event is cancelled prior to the start, it will not count.  (Example: Myrtle Beach 2010, Southern Indiana Classic 2011, NYC 2012).

6. If an event is unable to be held at it’s originally designated location, due to acts of God, but the event is held in an alternative location within the boundaries of the continent it shall count if the participant completed the required distance and the race organizer allows for it and meets all the other general requirements (e.g., Antarctica Marathon from 2001, which was run on a boat in the Antarctic waters).

7. If an event is postponed mid-race due to an act of God, it will still count if the race is resumed at the first practical opportunity, regardless if the location of the event had to be moved, as long as the remaining course conforms to these rules and the race director allows it and meets the other rules above.  (Example: White Continent Marathon 2013 had to evacuate runners from Antarctica to Chile, where some of the participants completed the marathon in Chile).

8. A reasonable interruption of a race is determined by the race organization. If the race organization decides to suspend the race for a short time because of safety issues and then allows runners to continue, then the race may count.    These are the rules of our organization and are subject to change by the Board of Directors.