Denver man completes 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 days, raises money for First Descents organization

A Denver businessman has just completed a feat which sounds very unlikely: running seven marathons on each of the globe's seven continents in 7 days. In the process, Ben Wright raised funds in his World Marathon Challenge for an organization that focuses on getting patients outdoors and into scenic parts of Colorado. That group is called First Descents.

 
"First Descents is a Denver based nonprofit and we provide totally free of cost outdoor adventure programs to young adults impacted by cancer, MS and other serious health conditions," said Mackenzie McGrath from First Descents. "We've served over 10,000 young adults nationwide (in the past 20 years)."

McGrath said the experience that the young participants in their program is "transformational."

"For many folks, this is the first time they've ever really been outdoors for this extended of time. And they're learning that cancer or MS or whatever it is that they are facing is not them. It's not part of them, it's just something they're dealing with."

Wright's final of his seven marathons was completed on Tuesday morning in Florida. At the time of completion, the fundraiser for First Descents was at $1,071,478. $1 million of that was from Wright's company Velocity Global and the rest came from more than 130 donations.

Before embarking on his running quest, Wright told CBS News Colorado he picked up running as a hobby about a decade ago.

"I've run on six continents and it just got in my head one time, 'I wonder if you can do a marathon on Antarctica?' And I started Googling and I found (the World Marathon Challenge)," Wright said.

Approximately 50 other runners participated in this year's event. The runs were held on Antarctica, South Africa, Australia, Dubai, Spain, Brazil and Miami.