In Wolf’s Fang, Antarctica, in the middle of November, Becs Gentry set out on a race around the world. Three hours, 20 minutes, and 44 seconds later—as the temperature reached a frigid 3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16 degrees Celsius)—the veteran Peloton running coach completed the first of seven marathons in seven days across seven continents.
38-year-old Gentry, with nails adorned with black sevens, had joined nearly 60 of the planet’s most elite runners for The Great World Race, one of the most taxing mental and physical challenges known to man. With a $50,000 entrance fee, competitive runners fly around the world for a grueling test of endurance.
Averse to the cold, the British-born New Yorker was most nervous about the first race where temperatures routinely reach the single digits. Gentry, who has Raynaud's syndrome—a condition that affects circulation in her hands—feared she would get frostbite, so she stocked up on loads of winter gear. But the ultramarathoner was overprepared.
“Honestly, it wasn’t that cold,” Gentry tells Fortune laughing. “It was quite a beautiful day.”
The next day, Gentry ran in Cape Town, South Africa, then Perth, Australia, Istanbul in Europe and Asia, Cartagena, South America, in mid-90-degree weather and 90% humidity, and finally, Miami, Florida, where she crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with some fellow racers, followed by a tearful hug with her daughter and partner.
“It’s sort of like… this high of elation and pride and satisfaction,” Gentry says, reflecting on her accomplishment last month.
With an over 100-degree temperature fluctuation across the week on different terrain, Gentry averaged a 3:13:56 marathon time and came in second place overall—with only a mild complaint of some foot pain during marathon four that has since healed.
Gentry acknowledges that people are probably asking…why in the world?
“For me, it is challenging myself to quite an extreme point, traveling, and bringing this experience and knowledge back to my home space, so I can then emanate it out to all people around me,” she says.
Gentry’s motivation to compete stemmed from her two-year-old daughter Tallulah.
“I was almost running on fumes at the beginning of this year. When it comes to my own light, I was that dwindling flame in that winter fire,” she says. “I needed something that made me have those sparks again [to] be that great motivator and that badass mom. That may sound selfish to people who think you’re going out and running all these miles by yourself, but that's who I am.”
Here, Gentry shares how she trained.
“I did this thanks to my diligence and discipline in training, which is a result of having strong mental capacity,” she says. “I didn’t get sore during the race and have never gotten sore after the race, so that really, really shocked me. But I changed my body, so I guess my coach would be like, ‘that's what training is.’”
"Training the body to function on fatigue"
With the help of a running coach, Gentry followed a strict training plan beginning in March. On average, she ran 130 miles a week. For one of many long runs, Gentry trekked along the 32-mile perimeter of Manhattan for a 37.5 mile run.
Already a Peloton running coach and professional marathoner, Gentry's biggest hurdle was finding a way to build the stamina to repeat marathon after marathon.
The key was loading the end of the week with mileage, running in intervals throughout the day, and taking small breaks to emulate the quick turnaround of the race.
“If you’ve ever had to restart a run after a break, you're a little bit more stiff, especially at nearly 39 years old,” she says.
For example, she would run a 20-miler, take a break to change and shower for a 60-minute, 8-mile Peloton run class at its Hudson Yards studio, take photos with members and chat with her colleagues, and then run six to 10 miles to her New York City home.
“I think that really helped me feel stronger when it came to the multi-stage formats of this race,” says Gentry, who would avoid sitting for prolonged periods to get out the lactic acid, which builds during intense exercise and can cause muscle soreness and fatigue.
Because the body experiences inflammation and muscle strain in the days after a marathon, experts typically recommend that recreational runners commit to no more than two marathons annually to ensure proper recovery. Victoria Sekely, a physical therapist and run coach, previously told Fortune that to reduce the risk of injury and fatigue, it’s important to slowly build up endurance over time, keep your body fueled, and prioritize recovery as you would a long run.
Some people, however, are simply built differently. (Dean Karnazes, better known as “Ultra Marathon Man,” has run the equivalent of 10 marathons without stopping.) Physical ability is highly dependent on myriad factors from training adherence to genetics, cardiovascular health, and age. Gentry, who runs for her profession, recognizes that her body responds uniquely well to this challenge.
Fueling the body
Gentry, tested her VO2 max, a standard marker of cardiovascular fitness that measures the maximum heart rate reached during intense exercise, to learn how to best fuel her body and what nutrition she needs to maintain strength and resilience.
She prioritized carbs during training, hydrated with electrolytes and gels during the race, and ate snacks between marathons. (A pack of Trader Joe’s rice cakes traveled with her around the globe.)
Her motto was simple during the race: “Don't be picky. It literally was just, get the calories in. You don't know when you're going to eat again. Don't worry about eating at a certain time.”
Championing mental fortitude
Run coaches have long championed mental fortitude as a way to push through the most taxing parts of a long race, otherwise known as “the wall.” While physical fitness is the foundation, mental fitness plays an integral role, too.
“The mantra that I live, run, move by is ‘forward is a pace,’” Gentry says, adding that it helped her focus on just finishing instead of being distracted by the pressure of time. It also encouraged Gentry to take in the experience as it was happening, appreciating the community she found in other runners from all over the world. “In those moments, we were together, and it didn't matter who we were, we just ran side by side in silence or in conversation, and it was truly beautiful.”
Embracing being alone
Gentry is not afraid to take herself on a date to dinner; it’s a trait that has helped her embrace running for hours by herself.
Gentry, who says she grew up as the only child in the house, loves her solo time. “I can be at home for days by myself, so running all these miles with my own thoughts has never been a scary thing to me, which is why I think I love ultra running so much,” she says.
“Time is a concept”
While Gentry admits she’s never been susceptible to jet lag, she didn’t attempt to switch to the current time zone and slept on the plane.
“There was no point because we were never going to be anywhere long enough for our bodies to get used to the geographical time zone that we were on,” she says, adding that she was in each continent for a maximum of eight hours before jetting off again. “Time is a concept for those seven days. Just look at your watch to get the mileage and pace, otherwise don’t look at your watch.”
Now that it’s all over, Gentry admits feeling “a new lease on life, inspiration, and motivation.”
“In the weirdest way, being the toughest, most stressful thing on my body, it’s brought me such peace and relaxation,” Gentry says. “Feeling pride in yourself as an adult is quite rare. We go through childhood, and we always have these huge milestones of pride, of success…so why not go out there and do something that makes you hold that medal up or that certificate or paycheck, or whatever it is, to say, ‘I did this.’”
