Lexington resident Cathy Gill is going to run seven marathons on seven different continents over the course of a single week, starting on Nov. 15, as part of The Great World Race. The Great World Race is a bucket-list-level athletic feat — a group of 60 runners will be flown to seven different locations, including Wolf’s Fang, Antarctica; Cape Town, South Africa; Perth, Australia; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Algarve, Portugal; Cartagena, Colombia; and Miami Beach, Florida. At each destination, participants have a total of eight hours to run 26.2 miles before traveling to the next marathon location. Gill is running this series of races to fundraise for Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization that raises money to combat substance use disorder in the United States. Gill has a personal connection to this cause, as her daughter, Courtney Gill, died from an accidental drug overdose in April 2022.
This endeavor will be incredibly grueling. In addition to the immense endurance required to run a marathon, runners must complete them back-to-back, meaning there will be very little recovery time between each race. “If you don’t get to sleep on the plane, you might have a limited window in a hotel room to get some sleep before you start the race. So, the challenge is going to be to recover as quickly as you can and make sure that you’re fueling appropriately,” Gill said. “Your level of tiredness is going to be cumulative. I imagine each race will be a little harder than the previous.”
However, Gill is no stranger to marathons — she has run a total of 66 marathons in her 61 years. After completing The Great World Race, Gill will have crossed a total of 73 marathon finish lines in her life. When she was in graduate school, Gill was inspired by a friend who ran a marathon. She promised herself that she would run a marathon by the time she turned 40, a goal that she achieved a month before her 40th birthday. Gill competed in the Disney World Marathon and ended up running a Boston Marathon qualifying time. “When you qualify for Boston, it’s hard to turn the opportunity down. I probably would have been one and done if it wasn’t for the fact that I had the lure of running the iconic Boston Marathon as a qualified runner,” said Gill.
From that point on, Gill was hooked on running. Many marathons later, in 2018, Gill had a conversation about a similar race over dinner with Dave McGillivray, who has directed and consulted on the Boston Marathon, as well as the Olympic Games. McGillivray’s experience piqued Gill’s interest, but at this point, only in terms of the physical and logistical challenges the race posed. Then, this past fall, Gill began following a few running influencers on social media who vlogged their day-to-day experience running The Great World Race, which gave Gill “FOMO.” So, she registered herself.
“I like to push myself and physically challenge myself. I’ve always been very goal-oriented,” said Gill. “And this just felt like a worthwhile challenge to take on, paired with some fundraising for Shatterproof, which gives meaning to my miles and meaning behind my participation.”
Gill is very involved in Shatterproof. She is a coach for their endurance team, which means she trains groups of runners all over the U.S. virtually over the course of 20 weeks to prepare them for marathons. These runners are all affected by substance use disorder in some way, whether that be directly or indirectly. In addition to donating her time, Gill works to raise money. “Shatterproof works really hard to destigmatize substance use disorder through educational campaigns and outreach to communities to help people understand more about addiction and substance use disorder as a disease,” Gill said.
Gill got involved with Shatterproof after the death of her daughter. Courtney was an athlete who grew up here in Lexington. She played youth soccer and was a competitive singles and pairs skater. “She logged thousands of hours Hayden and other ice rinks. She was a beautiful, very talented skater, and a natural athlete,” Gill said.
Courtney was enrolled in the Lexington Public School system for ten years. She went to elementary school in Lexington, then Diamond Middle School, and later attended Lexington High School (LHS) for two years. At some point during her time at LHS, Courtney began using drugs and it escalated into a pattern. Gill pulled her out of LHS and enrolled her in boarding school, hoping that the change in environment would do her good.
“Courtney suffered from substance use disorder, and worked really hard over the years to maintain her sobriety, and had some pretty good streaks for a period of time. Right before she died, she had moved home, was in recovery, was taking some continuing education classes, and had also become a dental assistant at a local practice. I think she was doing really well at the time. But it’s really hard to know, and the smallest of slips can result in an accidental death,” Gill said.
“The first race is less than a month away. I’m feeling a combination of excitement, nervousness and emotion. I’m finding it a little hard to sleep at night, just thinking through my packing list and the logistics, and questioning my judgment in signing up for it. I’m dedicating these races to my daughter’s memory and raising money for Shatterproof, which brings in an emotional piece.”
The 60 runners embarking on this challenging athletic journey are diverse in terms of their running capabilities, age and country of origin. A case in point: there is an 82-year-old runner who will be toeing the line alongside Gill, and some “elite runners who are pacers for three-hour marathon groups.” The majority of runners are from the United States, but there are also several international participants.
The runners have already started bonding and getting to know each other on platforms such as WhatsApp and Strava. Gill noted that the group is already gelling well online. “It seems like it’s a very nice group of people that are going to support each other through the seven races,” Gill said. “I suspect that we will all become lifetime friends. A lot of my closest friends in the world I’ve met through running, and I think spending this week with this group will yield friendships that will continue past just the race.”
Gill will bring four different pairs of running shoes. “Antarctica is on a groomed runway, so I’ll be running in a pair of trail shoes there, just to help with gripping onto the snow surface. Then, I have a pair of my regular trainers — the ASICS GEL-NIMBUS 26 is the model that I’m bringing. I’m also packing my Saucony Endorphin Pros, which are the shoes I typically wear in marathons; they’re carbon-plated shoes. It has been recommended that we bring an extra pair of running shoes that are a size larger than our usual ones. One of the challenges runners encounter in these consecutive races is foot swelling, and so I have an additional pair of the ASICS GEL-NIMBUS that are a size up.”
Food will be available to runners on the trip; however, runners are encouraged to pack their own snacks to ensure they can fuel themselves to best suit their own needs and tastes. Gill’s “typical pre-race breakfast is a banana with peanut butter and some oatmeal.” During races, Gill likes to consume UCAN Edge orange-mango gels. She does not know whether she will have access to all this on the trip, and predicts that she will end up with a more bland, simple diet. She identifies “bagels, potatoes and pasta” as a few foods she will likely eat before each race.
Courtney’s death occurred the week before her 30th birthday. That week, she had been planning a family birthday party to be held at a local restaurant. Courtney had even selected an outfit for the event. Her last text exchange with her mother was about the type of cake she wanted at her party. “I don’t know what happened from there. She obviously made a bad choice. Some people would say that when you have a substance use disorder, it’s not really a choice. You’re living with a disease, and this disease results in decision-making that can be fatal. It was a bad combination of substances, and a tragedy for our family. She was loved so much and was doing so well, and we had such optimism and hope. And I think she had optimism and hope for herself. The saddest piece is that she was at a point in her life where she saw a bright future, and we all saw that bright future for her.”
Courtney’s passing has devastated Gill’s family. “You take the loss of a child with you for the rest of your life. Courtney was loved by a lot of people, so her death touched a lot of other people as well,” Gill said. “I think that everyone is touched by addiction and substance use disorder in some way. Whether that be people know someone who’s battling or they’ve lost someone. It’s more common than it may appear at first glance.”
Given the prevalence of this issue, it is paramount that this cause is acknowledged, supported, and addressed. “It’s something that is deserving of the same medical treatment as any other illness,” Gill said. “I thought The Great World Race would be a great opportunity to do some fundraising for Shatterproof. I run races with my daughter’s memory in mind.”
Gill aims to raise as much money as possible, with a goal of $20,000. This sum, although ambitious, is an amount that would make a tangible difference in Shatterproof’s efforts. To donate to this important cause and support Cathy’s Great World Race, click here.
