Richard Donovan (born 1966)
is an
Irish runner, commercial race organizer, and
sports administrator
Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiza ...
. Donovan organised and was first to complete the inaugural
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...
Marathon in January 2002, then completed the first marathon-length run in the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
in April of that year.
He used the publicity from this to launch his North Pole Marathon venture, offering runners an
adventure tourism
Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion. In the United States, adventure tourism has seen growth in l ...
experience, with the 2018 event costing €16,000.
Between 30 January and 5 February 2009, Donovan claimed a worlds best for running seven marathons, on seven different continents, in fewer than seven days.
Starting 1 February 2012 he improved on this by completing the 7 on 7 in under 120 hours.
Donovan has also completed transcontinental runs across North America in 2015 and Europe in 2016,
adding South America in 2017. In addition to the North Pole Marathon, he organizes a number of other commercial events.
See also
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Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k ultra race
The Antarctic Ice Marathon was established by Richard Donovan and Polar Running Adventures to enable marathon runners to complete a marathon on all seven continents. It also enables athletes to complete the marathon grand slam – a marathon on ...
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World Marathon Challenge
World Marathon Challenge is a multievent marathon competition that involves completing seven full run marathon races on seven continents in seven days.
History
The first World Marathon Challenge was held in 2015, beginning in Antarctica on Janu ...
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North Pole Marathon
The North Pole Marathon is run over the classic marathon distance at the North Pole. The race is run on small, loop about 10 times over hard snow or the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean. There are individual competitions with male and female div ...
References
1960s births
Living people
Irish male marathon runners
Athletes from County Galway
20th-century Irish sportsmen
Year of birth missing (living people)
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