🌍 Project Se7en

After a near-two-hour swim in sub-zero waters, a near-19-hour bike ride in a blizzard and a five-hour marathon in equally savage conditions, Spencer Matthews has just completed an Ironman triathlon in one of the most desolate parts of the world: Antarctica. But that, quite literally, was the tip of the iceberg. For the Made in Chelsea star, it was the final Ironman in a series of seven, completed within the space of just 21 days, nine hours and 18 minutes.

This challenge, known as Project Se7en, saw Matthews conquer a 140.6-mile Ironman in every continent on the globe within a three-week period. His stops? London (Europe), Arizona (North America), Cape Town (Africa), Perth (Oceania), Dubai (Asia), Rio (South America) and Antarctica. Along the way, he battled draining heat, intense cold, wild monsoons and more. But it did earn him the world record for this challenge – and it has helped him to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

But extreme challenges like this don’t just happen out of nowhere – they require nth-degree planning, fierce commitment and calm adaptability by a selfless, hardworking team. In many ways, the behind-the-scenes time, energy and effort that goes into staging an event – whether it’s Project Se7en, the London Marathon or your local parkrun – matches, if not outweighs, what’s required by participants to complete that event.

🧠 Event logistics

Chris Taylor, better known as Taylor, was at the helm of Project Se7en. An accomplished ultra-distance running coach and endurance events organiser, who established and runs TaylorMade Coaching, Taylor has masterminded numerous record-breaking challenges. Last year, he coached and joined Matthews for his 30 desert marathons in 30 days mission and helped Imo Boddy to become the fastest-ever woman to climb and run more than 420 miles between the Three Peaks. More recently, he enabled Elsey Davis to achieve the world record for the fastest 400-mile circumnavigation of Cornwall – and that’s scratching the surface.

Taylor doesn’t just manage the logistics of these challenges, either. An athlete in his own right, he clocks many of those tough miles alongside the people he supports, spurring them on when everything else might be urging them to stop.

Runner’s World caught up with Taylor during Project Se7en, just ahead of the penultimate Ironman in Rio, to understand what it takes to craft and deliver such a high-pressure challenge – and why an Ironman in Antarctica should never be underestimated.

📰 Read the full article

You can read the full interview and article on the Runner’s World website.