30 marathons, 7 continents: A vice-dean’s running journey across the globe

When Mark Walton crossed the finish line during a marathon in New Zealand in late 2024, he completed a spectacular feat: running a marathon on all seven continents.

It sounds baffling. Most people haven’t even stepped foot on all of Earth’s continents, let alone run on them as part of a marathon. But for Walton, the vice-dean of Faculty Affairs with McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and professor with the Department of Surgery, the feat was an accomplishment years in the making.

“I’ve now done about 30 marathons. The most recent one was to get my final continent, Oceania, with a race in Queenstown, New Zealand. It was a beautiful and really wonderful place to visit and complete this milestone.”

Through his journey across the globe, Walton has encountered just about every biome one can run on, from the sandy tracks of Madagascar to the icy vastness of Antarctica. That latter trip was rather unique as runners had to be ferried to the frigid continent in groups after crossing the rough waters of the Drake Passage.

“You’re brought to this peninsula where all the international research stations are located. The weather was pretty favourable when we did it and we essentially ran on a gravel lava trail. It consisted of six loops on a seven-kilometre trail.”

Walton has also participated in several other impressive runs, including the New York City Marathon, the London Marathon, Tokyo marathon and has run in the Boston Marathon and Chicago marathon, twice.

Running runs in the family

Running a marathon is no simple feat. It takes endurance, dedication and a sprinkle of stubbornness to cross the finish line.

Walton has accumulated these skills over years of running. He was originally drawn to running to maintain his physical health during his years of training towards becoming a pediatric surgeon.

“One of the troubles with working long hours like I do is you know you can get physically out of shape and I’ve always valued being in shape, so it’s for my own personal kind of fulfilment.”

However, it was Walton’s brothers who really inspired him to run his first marathon.

“My older brother was also running at that time, and he did a marathon. Not that I am competitive, but I thought, if he can do a marathon, I should be able to do a marathon too.”

Since then, Walton has run marathons with both of his brothers, including a memorable journey to Germany.

“We all went to Berlin for the Berlin Marathon, which is famous for fast records. We were there just to finish and we actually all finished together. It was kind of a cool experience.”

Walton has also been able to share his love of running with his son. The pair have competed in the Around the Bay Race which takes place annually in the Hamilton area.

But Walton says above all others it is his wife who has been a faithful cheerleader across his globetrotting runs.

“She puts me in my place and tells me to run faster.”

Persevering in running and medicine

While running has taken him the world over, it has also brought Walton closer to a community.

Over his 30 races, he has seen and met with people he otherwise wouldn’t have encountered. Some of these people have encouraged him on his path across the seven continents. Others have shared tales of their own journeys, including some runners who have participated in hundreds of races.

“It’s quite a community. They really are well-meaning people that are full of energy and enthusiasm to do runs and lots of other fun things.”

The perseverance needed for a marathon is similar to the determination needed to run the gamut that is medical education – it can take years and thousands of hours to graduate.

“Medicine is a long road, especially in some of the specialties and sub-specialties. Some medical specialties are very much daytime activities, some are very much night time activities. So, it does speak to a bit of a mindset.”

Walton says you don’t need to be a good runner to run. In fact, he doesn’t even consider himself a good runner. But he says the keys to success are perseverance, encouragement and that dash of stubbornness.

“You’ll realise that some people run amazingly well, others don’t, but they’re just enjoying it.”