Carl Byington is a unique individual who has accomplished something that less than 500 people in the world have done.
He’s an adventure seeker and took his passion around the world thru running as he ran a marathon on all seven continents. He conquered his last continent, Africa, in July 2013 when he completed a marathon in Zimbabwe, joining the ‘7 Continents Marathon Club’ in the process.
How did the story start?
Carl Byington was never a runner growing up. The most running he ever did was wind sprints up and down the hallway during wrestling practice. But this changed when one of his adventures nearly killed him.
Carl was training for his second marathon in Chicago and decided to go rock climbing with a friend in Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, on Sept. 9, 2003. He opined that he only started running marathons because he thought it would be a good way to lean out even more and be able to climb harder routes.
“I was a relatively experienced climber but my lead rope hubris probably got the better of me that day,” said Carl, who had six years of prior rock climbing experience. “A series of circumstances led me to fall about 70 feet onto a rock shelf shattering the bones in my right leg with compound fractures.”
His tibia and fibula had been crushed which left him unable to walk for over nine months.
The Aftermath and Prognosis
“It was a very difficult time for me and my family,” Carl said in several interviews. “There was some serious question as to whether the bone was going to repair itself because the nature of the high impacts. I was doing about 40 mph when I hit the rock.”
After five surgeries and aggressive physical therapy, he slowly was able to put more and more weight on his legs. “I remember when I first tried to put weight back on the leg again, but the muscle was so atrophied and bone so weak that I could only push down about 5 lbs on the scale.” He talks more about this in his Today Show broadcast.
After many more months of physical therapy to strengthen his muscles and improve the range of motion in his ankle, he pushed himself to walk longer and longer distances. After another couple of months, Carl began to start sneaking out for small runs against his orthopedic surgeon’s advice and eventually worked himself up to a mile.
“I told my Orthopedic Surgeon that I wanted to try for another marathon to prove to myself that I was able to fully recover from this injury,” Carl said. “He looked at me somewhat shocked and suggested I might have lost more than a few of my elements of sanity as well on the mountain.”
Finding your Zen and your Stride Again
Carl found his Zen with his adventures and needed them back in his life.
“I felt the most connected with the rest of the world when I gave myself some time to recharge in the outdoors,” Carl said.
In Nov. 2006, three years after his near-death experience, Carl completed his first marathon in Athens, Greece with his best friend, Nick Lagen and best business partner, Mike Roemer.
“The vision quest to do all seven continents grew from there and I tried to pick smaller boutique events that were emblematic of each continent,” Carl said.
He conquered the remaining six continents including Antarctica in a span of less than five years from Oct. 2008 to July 2013.
“When people ask me why I have gone around the world to run marathons on all seven continents, I tell them about the time I was unsure if I would ever walk again or even keep my right foot. I feel blessed to have done that and more,” Carl said.
Marathoners and Seven
Carl explained that marathoners are interesting people especially when you meet them in different parts of the world and cultures begin to collide.
Before he began his marathon on his seventh continent, many people asked him what time he was shooting for.
“There’s only one number that matters to me and that’s seven,” Carl said. “I want to finish. This is going to be No. 7. As I ran across the finish line, I was cramping up, it was a tough race – hot with lots of hills but as I crossed, I just flashed seven and felt the joy and euphoria of completing that. That was a fulfillment of a dream.”
Carl Byington continues to credit Dr. James Widmaier and the team at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA for helping him to overcome this challenging setback. “I am forever grateful that he saw a kindred adventurous spirit in me and knew that I wanted to not only walk but run again someday. He also gave me the best recovery training advice – let pain be your guide as you try to do more.”
Carl’s marathons on the 7 Continents were:
- Athens, Greece (Europe), November 2006
- Marine Corps, Washington D.C. (North America), October 2008
- Vina Del Mar, Chile (South America), December 2009
- Uluru/Outback Marathon (Australia), July 2010
- Penang, Malaysia (Asia), November 2010
- Antarctic Ice Marathon at Union Glacier (Antarctica), November 2012
- Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (Africa), July 2013
Carl Byington continues his world traveling, exploring, and planning adventures. He plans to sea kayak around a large body of land. He also said that he still has a number of mountains to climb and that he really enjoys long distance trekking.
“There’s a famous trek through the Pyrenees called El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James); perhaps I might do some long-distance trek like that on all seven continents as well,” he said.