A new marathoning World Record was set by a Garrett County native on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai on January 18, 2018 when he became the first and only person to ever run public marathons (26.2 miles) on all 7 Continents and in all 50 United States in less than 1 year. However, he set an even larger record a few days later on January 23 in Auckland, New Zealand when he added the earth’s “8th Continent”, Zealandia, to his list of conquests. Earlier this year, Dave Jones, formerly of Oakland, MD and now living in Hanson, KY, became 1 of only 4 people to ever run official, public marathons on all 7 of the Earth’s “traditional” Continents in less than 7 Days. Starting at the Australia Day Marathon in Perth, Australia on January 25, 2017 and finishing just under 167 hours later in the White Continent Marathon on King George Island, Antarctica, he completed full marathons on each Continent, traveling from East to West in order to begin races at each official Start Line in its own time zone and finish under the published race cut-offs before traveling to the next race. But, approximately 2 weeks after returning home from that adventure, professional journal articles began to surface that posited the existence of an 8th Continent. “Zealandia”, which is 94% submerged in the Pacific, has limited dry land consisting mostly of New Zealand and New Caledonia (for more info on the 8th continent see: https://www.livescience.com/57927-new-zealand-part-of-eighth-continent.html).
In a last-minute decision, Dave dropped everything and flew from his World Record celebration in Hawaii to Auckland, and ran a marathon on the Earth’s ‘Hidden 8th Continent’ on day #364 of this record-breaking year. That race further secured his spot in history by making him the first and only person to ever complete full, public marathons on all of the Earth’s 8 continents AND in all 50 US States in less than 365 Days. He said afterward, “Now that I’ve proven that a jumbo-sized former smoker with essentially no athletic talent can do this, I invite others to disregard their own limits and complete ‘The Eternal Endurance Challenge’ too.” Right now, this is a club of 1 finisher, but Dave knows others can do it and has vowed to, “…give as much guidance and advice as I can to help anyone who is interested to achieve this too. It can be done!”. “There are very few things in this world that have never been done before, when I discovered that I was in a position to accomplish one of them, reason went out the window and I had to try!”
Dave will be returning home to Garrett County later this month to speak about his adventures and lessons learned through them at a public event in the Garrett College Auditorium in McHenry. This event, on February 27 at 6:30 pm, is part of “The Colloquium Series” hosted by Garrett’s Adventure Sports Institute. More information about the Colloquia can be found by contacting Mike Logsdon at Garrett College. This live engagement will be recorded and portions of it will be used in an upcoming documentary about Dave that will be released later this Spring.
Jones is the grandson of Oakland resident Joyce Skidmore, and the son of former Garrett County Economic Development Director, Tom Jones (deceased) and Alana Jones, both formerly of Oakland. He is married with 3 children, ages 12, 8, and 4 and owns a company called Eternal Endurance where he works as a Keynote and Motivational Speaker as well as an Ultra-Endurance Coach. He is far from a natural or lifelong athlete, and didn’t start running until 5 years ago when he weighed 285 lbs and was trying to break a 25-year nicotine addiction that saw him smoking 2 packs per day. He still stands over 6’1, has a long beard, shaved head, and weighs 240 lbs., far from a typical world-class endurance athlete type, though he’s finished Ironman triathlons and 100+ mile runs, twice each, among other endurance feats.
Dave’s Eternal Endurance Challenge has been followed by various local, national, and international news organizations, but you can also find more information on the website: www.eternalendurance.com and follow in real-time on the Eternal Endurance page on Facebook where Dave frequently posts. Updates and pictures can also be found on Twitter @eternalenduranc and Instagram @Eternal Endurance. Dave is currently writing a book about his adventures and accepting bookings for public appearances in 2018. His keynote addresses help audiences of all types to transcend their own limits in work, school, relationships, and athletics in order to achieve their most lofty goals and beyond. Contact info@eternalendurance.com today to inquire about availability and rates for getting Dave to present this life-changing message to your next group gathering.
Jones can be made available for phone, Skype, and in-person interviews by contacting Eternal Endurance at: info@eternalendurance.com.
