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Some folks love to run and among them are those who love marathons, but how many of them want to run a marathon in Antarctica? Washington Street resident Georgia McGaughey has done it and she’s determined to run one on every continent.
“I love to run,” she says, “and I love challenges so friends suggested I try marathons.”
Her first one was in Philadelphia in 2004, “and I was hooked.”
She “barely” qualified for Boston and then she took 12 years off to raise her two daughters and work in pharmaceutical companies.
She’s back on track and runs to raise funds for charities. One was an organization that’s a resource for those with spinal cord injuries.
“My mom had an injury and spent 11 years in a wheelchair,” says McGaughey.
When she ran in Berlin, she raised money for grandmothers in South Africa who are raising grandchildren whose parents died of AIDS.
“I know it’s a crazy idea to marathon on every continent,” she says, “but I love to travel and there’s a company called Marathon Tours and Travel and I go with them twice a year.”
For the Antarctic race, McGaughey ran for a charity that deals with climate change.
“You can see in the photo that there’s no snow at the race finish,” she says.
She plans to run in Tokyo later this year.
“That will be the last of the continents,” she says, adding she’s racing for ACE (Action against Child Exploitation.)
In Kenya, she ran for the Amazing Maasai Project, which helps send girls to high school.
“They practice polygamy in Kenya,” says McGaughey, “so the girls usually get married off early. We ran with some of the girls.”
What’s her schedule? Rio in June, and she’ll still have Australia or New Zealand to finish the continents. Her official name, she points out, is Georgia Nicolls in case any readers want to look her up online.
Her race times vary.
“In Kenya, the race is at 1,000 feet of elevation, and we also had guards with semiautomatics looking out for lions,” she says.
In Japan, her time was four hours and 15 minutes; others might be six hours.
At home, she does strength training at Get in Shape for Women in downtown Winchester. And she serves on the Silent Spring Institute board, reviews National Institute of Health grant applications, and is on the advisory committee for the Cleveland Clinic. Maybe you’ll see her running in your neighborhood?
